^  PRINCETON,    N.    J.  iff 


Division. ..XJ.J.\2,„^  b 
^fr/'/^«....A0...1.  is.. 


Shelf.. 


Number. 


.V 


•?'  •* 


CEITICAL  AM)  EXEGETICAL 


COMMENTARY 


THE  BOOK  OF  LEVITICUS, 


NEW    TRANSLATION. 


J 
JA^IES   G.  ]\IURPHY,  LL.D.,  IX.D., 

PEOFESSOB  OP  HEBKEW,  BELFAST,  AUTBOB  OF  COMMESIAEIES  ON  GENESIS  AXD  EXODUS. 


WARREN  F.  DRAPER,  PUBLISHER. 

MAIN     STUEET. 

1874. 


PREFACE. 


'^tC.    SEf    ;..„ 


In  the  present  state  of  man,  human  reason,  if  without  bias 
and  without  revelation,  would  arrive  at  three  inevitable  con- 
clusions :  I  am  guilty,  God  is  holy,  and  therefore  I  am  doomed 
to  die.  It  would  be  easy  to  put  these  three  propositions  into 
the  form  of  a  regular  syllogism,  of  which  the  last  would  be 
the  legitimate  conclusion.  They  contain  the  sum  of  all  nat- 
ural theology ;  and  it  is  obvious  tliat  they  constitute  a  philos- 
ophy of  despair. 

There  is  a  whole  class  of  the  most  important  truths  involved 
in  these  few  statements.  It  is  well  to  bring  some  of  these 
distinctly  before  the  mind.  That  human  reason  is  under  a 
manifold  bias,  different  in  different  men  and  circumstances, 
and  extremely  difficult  to  escape,  is  a  proposition  that  will  not 
be  denied  by  any  one  at  all  conversant  with  the  history  of 
opinion  in  philosophy  and  religion.  The  degree  in  which  cer- 
tain threads  of  pure  revelation  have  been  woven  into  the  many- 
figured  texture  of  the  imagination,  and  have  influenced  the 
course  of  reason  on  questions  of  the  highest  moment  to  man, 
has  not  been  so  fully  considered  or  freely  conceded  ;  and  it  is 
impossible  here  to  do  more  than  indicate  this  iniportant  point. 
Yet  notwithstanding  the  acknowledged  existence  of  prejudice, 
even  on  tlie  loftiest  themes,  it  is  a  settled  conviction  with  us, 
that  intellect  is  indestructible  as  long  as  the  soul  endures,  and 

8 


4  PREFACE. 

that  reason  has  the  power  of  cognising  first  principles,  ascer- 
taining elementary  facts,  and  drawing  legitimate  conclusions, 
if  the  wilful  vagrancy  of  the  fancy  were  kept  in  check.  This  is 
the  first  postulate  of  all  human  philosophy,  without  the  admis- 
sion of  which  all  further  pursuit  of  knowledge  is  hopeless  and 
unprofitable. 

Having  adopted  the  postulate  that  reason,  if  true  to  itself,  is 
a  faculty  by  which  knowledge  may  be  acquired,  we  are  prone 
to  investigate  the  highest  problem  of  man  —  his  moral  relation 
to  God,  and  are  led  at  length  to  the  three  fundamental  pro- 
positions already  given.  At  first  sight  some  will  object  to  their 
meagreness,  others  to  their  comprehensiveness.  Let  them  at 
all  events  be  put  to  the  test  of  a  thorough  and  impartial  exam- 
ination. Our  business  here  is  to  do  no  more  than  elucidate 
them  so  far  that  their  meaning  may  not  be  mistaken.  The 
first  proposition  affirms  two  things  —  that  man  is  of  a  moral 
nature,  and  that  when  this  moral  nature  is  developed  he  is 
conscious  of  sin  and  guilt ;  and  it  implies  that  right  reason  is 
capable  of  discovering  these  facts.  These  conclusions  have 
been  all  more  or  less  debated  by  some ;  yet  they  are  what  we 
hold  to  be  the  finding  of  reason  on  this  question. 

The  second  proposition  affirms  the  moral  nature  of  God,  and 
along  with  this  the  perfection  of  that  nature  ;  and  involves 
the  idea  and  the  existence  of  the  Creator  of  all  things.  Many 
will  hesitate  long  before  they  accept  these  momentous  aver- 
ments, with  all  that  they  imply,  as  the  actual  or  possible  deliv- 
erance of  reason  at  its  best  estate  from  the  ordinary  sources  of 
intuition,  experience,  or  logical  sequence.  But  the  longer  we 
meditate  on  this  transcendent  theme  the  more  fully  shall  we 
be  convinced  that  tlicy  are  the  probable,  if  not  demonstrable, 


PEEFACE.  5 

result  to  which  all  the  expatiations  of  human  reason  inev- 
itably lead. 

The  third  proposition  asserts  that  the  doom  of  sin  is  death, 
and  that  I,  being  guilty  of  sin,  am  doomed  to  die.  This  is  the 
conclusion  following  from  the  premises  already  stated,  and, 
like  every  other  conclusion,  is  simply  the  evolution  of  that 
which  is  involved  in  the  previous  facts.  It  raises  the  question 
of  the  meaning  of  death,  and  of  its  counterpart,  life,  and  of  the 
general  principles  of  administrative  justice  on  the  part  of  the 
Moral  Governor  of  the  universe.  But  there  is  nothing  in  all 
this  which  reason  is  not  competent  to  investigate,  if  it  have 
already  achieved  the  results  involved  in  the  premises  of  this 
argument.  Having  arrived  at  this  unavoidable  conclusion, 
reason  has  no  more  that  it  can  do.  By  the  inexorable  logic  of 
facts  it  has  been  compelled  to  draw  a  dark  picture  of  human 
destiny.  It  is  not  able  to  cast  a  single  ray  of  hope  on  the 
gloomy  scene.     Thus  ends  the  book  of  fallen  nature. 

On  this  dark  ground  we  open  the  book  of  revelation.  It 
also,  we  find,  contains  tliree  cardinal  articles  of  faith,  which 
are  the  counterparts  of  the  propositions  of  reason,  though  in  a 
different  order.  The  fundamental  utterance  of  revelation  is, 
that  God  is  merciful.  This  unfolds  itself  into  three  elements 
of  evangelical  truth :  God  pardons,  redeems,  and  sanctifies. 
All  this  is  more  fully  conveyed  in  the  three  following  sen- 
tences :  the  Father  in  mercy  appoints  an  atonement  and  ac- 
cepts the  returning  penitent ;  the  Son  makes  the  required 
atonement  by  fulfilling  all  righteousness  and  dying  for  sin- 
ners ;  the  Holy  Spirit  sanctifies  the  soul,  begetting  in  it  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ  and  repentance  toward  God.  We  may  set 
these  over  against  the  former  three  propositions  thus,  God  is 


6  PREFACE. 

holy ;  but  lie  is  also  merciful :  I  am  doomed  to  die  ;  but  the 
Word  made  flesh  has  died  for  me  :  I  am  guilty  of  sin  ;  but 
the  Holy  Spirit  comes  with  these  glad  tidings  to  quicken  me 
to  repentance.  This  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  all  revealed 
religion  ;  and  it  is  plain  that  it  forms  the  only  basis  of  a  philos- 
ophy of  hope. 

These  elements  of  the  theology  of  revelation  involve  a  long 
series  of  truths  of  the  utmost  moment  and  interest  to  man. 
Antecedent,  however,  to  the  entertainment  of  any  or  all  of  these 
doctrines  is  the  question  of  revelation  itself,  with  the  kindred 
topics  of  creation,  miracle,  inspiration,  and  prophecy.  Dr. 
Kalisch  in  a  long  dissertation  on  "  Theology  of  the  Past  and 
the  Future,"  prefixed  to  his  Commentary  on  Leviticus,  re- 
nounces creation,  miracle,  prayer,  revelation,  inspiration,  and 
prophecy,  and  in  consistency  with  these  views  denies  the  exist- 
ence of  types  in  the  Old  Testament.  He  therefore  naturally 
remarks ;  "  It  is  not  sufficient  to  appeal  from  the  letter  of  the 
Bible  to  its  spirit;  indeed,  the  one  kills,  but  even  the  other  is 
no  longer  life  and  truth  to  us.  The  spirit  of  the  Bible  is  not 
the  spirit  of  our  times  ;  it  is  not  the  light  that  illumines  our 
path,  or  points  to  our  goal."  It  is  not  surprising  that  a  Jew 
should  write  thus,  when  we  consider  the  precursors  he  has 
had  among  the  philosophers  and  divines  of  the  Christian  as 
well  as  of  the  Jewish  church,  whose  interpretation  of  Scripture 
he  has  rashly  taken  for  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the  Bible. 
As  a  natural  result  of  this  bewilderment  he  has  betaken 
himself  for  guidance  and  comfort  to  reason,  unaided  reason, 
developing  itself  successfully  in  science  and  philosophy,  and 
proudly  sitting  in  judgment  on  the  Bible  as  one  of  the  curious 
products  of  the  ancient  mind. 


PREFACE.  7 

No  tliinkiug  man  will  venture  to  undervalue  reason.  The 
progress  it  has  made  in  the  mathematical  and  experimental 
sciences,  and  in  their  thousandfold  application  to  the  arts  of 
life  proclaims  its  power.  But  its  scope,  however  comprehen- 
sive, is  limited  to  intuition,  experience,  and  inference.  It 
cannot  by  any  telescope  or  microscope  of  its  own  invention  go 
beyond  these.  It  cannot  look  even  on  the  heart  of  man, 
much  less  can  it  penetrate  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  God. 
In  this  field  of  inquiry  the  utmost  that  I  can  descry  is  the 
momentous  syllogism,  I  have  sinned  against  the  holy  God; 
he  that  has  sinned  against  him  is  doomed  to  die;  I  am  there- 
fore doomed  to  death.  All  that  is  not  involved  in  this  lies 
beyond  the  horizon  of  reason.  If  Dr.  Kalisch  had  once  fairly 
faced  the  cheerless  and  solitary  prospect  which  is  presented  by 
this  farthest  step  of  reason  in  the  line  of  man's  moral  relation 
with  God  he  would  have  been  slow  to  hand  us  over  to  Baruch 
Spinoza,  and  other  masters  or  vaunters  of  reason,  however 
splendid  in  intellect  or  unimpeachable  in  morals.  At  this 
dark  abyss  without  revelation  reason  can  only  stand  aghast. 

Many  of  those  who  are  in  doubt  about  a  written  revelation 
will  demur  to  the  account  here  given  of  the  testimony  which 
reason  has  to  offer  with  respect  to  the  relation  of  God  with 
man.  Some  will  affirm  that  it  is  overstated  ;  others  that  it  is 
understated.  We  have  at  present,  it  is  obvious,  no  pressing 
concern  with  those  who  think  it  is  overstated,  inasmuch  as  the 
less  reason  can  testify,  the  more  our  need  of  revelation.  But 
those  who  think  it  is  understated  assure  themselves  that  reason 
suggests,  if  it  does  not  vouch,  that  there  is  mercy  with  God. 
If  reason  actually  vouched  for  all  that  this  implies,  the  need  of 
revelation,  it  must  be  confessed,  would  not  be  great.  This  is  the 


g  PREFACE. 

turning-point  of  the  whole  question.  And  the  nearer  we  draw 
to  it,  the  more  sensible  we  become  that  it  is  the  most  grave 
and  serious  theme  that  can  engage  the  attention  of  man.  Now 
it  is  impossible  for  us  to  get  over  the  conviction  that  reason, 
so  far  from  even  hinting  at  mercy,  feels  itself  constrained  to 
yield  unreservedly  to  the  full  demand  of  justice.  For  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind,  tliat  mercy,  to  be  at  all  to  the  present  pur- 
pose, must  involve  the  forgiveness  of  sin.  Now  it  is  most 
willingly  agreed  that  the  sight  of  suffering,  that  is  presumably 
the  suffering  of  an  innocent  being,  will  awaken  pity  in  the 
Divine  bosom.  But  on  the  altogether  different  question 
whether  the  Most  High  will  or  can  forgive  sin,  reason  can  only 
be  silent.  All  that  it  can  positively  asseverate  is,  that  sin 
deserves  its  doom,  and  that  justice  requires  that  the  punishment 
be  adequate  to  the  offence.  If  I  wrong  my  neighbor  he  has 
a  right  to  redress.  And  he  that  is  in  authority  is  bound  not 
only  to  enforce  the  right,  but  to  vindicate  the  law  by  condign 
punishment.  Reason  can  go  no  further.  I  cannot  say  that 
my  neighbor  must  or  ought  or  will  pardon  me.  I  can  by 
no  means  say  that  the  magistrate  is  at  liberty  to  pardon  me 
without  redressing  my  neighbor. 

Whence,  then,  comes  the  conception  of  pardon  that  so  readily 
suggests  itself  to  the  mind  in  this  awful  predicament  ?  Sim- 
ply, we  submit,  from  the  voice  of  revelation,  a  revelation  as 
early  as  the  fall,  entwining  itself  with  the  memories  of  the 
race,  descending  as  a  tradition  from  father  to  son,  and  cher- 
ished as  a  fountain  of  hope  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death.  But  apart  from  all  revelation,  reason  could  only  assure 
us  of  the  sentence  of  death  upon  the  sinner;  and  we  know 
not  whether  imagination  could  even  suggest  the  possibility  of 


PREFACE.  9 

pardon.  But  even  if  it  could,  the  bare  suggestion  would  be  of 
no  avail  for  our  light  or  peace  against  the  inevitable  doom 
pronounced  by  reason  upon  the  guilty.  Only  a  plain  and 
palpable  attestation  could  give  comfort  to  the  mind.  Hence 
the  line  is  clear  to  us  that  marks  off  the  distinct  spheres  of 
reason  and  revelation  in  the  matter  of  our  relation  to  God. 
Reason,  at  the  most,  can  only  tell  us  of  justice  and  doom. 
Revelation,  when  its  voice  is  heard  at  all,  speaks  of  mercy 
and  peace.  Hence  also  appears  to  us  the  absolute  necessity 
of  revelation,  if  hope  is  ever  to  have  a  place  in  the  breast  of 
the  fallen. 

When  a  revelation  from  heaven  is  made,  however,  reason 
has  as  much  to  do  with  it  as  with  any  other  matter  that  comes 
within  its  ken.  First,  it  acknowledges  its  possibility.  If  my 
fellow-man  can  tell  me  of  the  thoughts  and  feelings  that  are 
within  his  heart,  much  more  can  my  Maker  unveil  to  me  the 
purpose  of  mercy  that  has  lain  hid  within  his  breast.  I  ask 
not  the  mode  of  doing  so.  He  who  made  me  after  his  own 
image  has,  I  question  not,  divers  manners  of  making  known 
to  me  his  mind.  Next,  reason  hears,  understands,  and  esti- 
mates the  credibility  of  the  revelation.  All  these  processes  we 
hold  and  admit  to  be  quite  competent  to  right  reason.  Again, 
when  a  revelation  comes  to  be  written,  it  affords  still  further 
exercise  for  reason.  We  then  have  the  best  means  not  only 
of  preserving  it,  but  of  judging  of  its  value  and  its  authority. 
A  written  revelation  gives  rise  to  the  questions  of  the  inspira- 
tion and  of  the  canon  of  Scripture. 

The  possibility  of  a  revelation  involves  the  wider  possibility 
of- a  miracle,  and  this  of  creation  and  prophecy.  A  logical 
mind,  accepting  revelation,  will  be  found  accepting  with  equal 
2 


10 


PREFACE. 


readiness  all  these  kindred  facts,  not  perhaps  in  the  popular, 
but  at  all  events  in  the  scriptural  sense.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  who  rejects  revelation  will  feel  himself  bound  in  consistency 
to  reject  the  miracle  in  all  its  phases.  This  single  point  of 
revelation,  then,  divides  thinking  men  into  two  sharply  defined 
classes,  those  who  acknowledge  the  miraculous  in  the  scriptural 
sense,  and  those  who  repudiate  it  in  some  other  assumed  sense. 
It  is  fitting  to  express  the  divergence  in  this  modified  form, 
because  the  reasoning  of  one  truly  thoughtful  man  is  not,  and 
cannot  be,  in  direct  antagonism  with  that  of  another. 

To  guard  against  misconception  it  is  necessary  to  observe 
that  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  must  be,  by  the  very 
nature  of  the  thing,  verbal,  simply  because  the  Scripture  to 
which  this  property  is  ascribed  consists  of  words.  Dean  Al- 
ford,  than  whom  few  men,  if  any,  in  the  British  Empire  are 
more  deserving  of  thanks  from  the  churches  for  his  labors  in 
the  field  of  New  Testament  exposition,  distinguishes  verbal  and 
plenary  inspirations  as  two  diverging  theories,  and  gives  a  defi- 
nition of  the  former,  on  the  ground  of  which  he  rejects  it  as 
unworthy  and  destructive  of  the  credibility  of  the  Gospels. 
We  regret  that  he  has  taken  this  course,  which  we  think  un- 
worthy of  his  discrimination  and  his  candor.  We  adhere  to  the 
phrase  "  verbal  inspiration,  "  but  we  must  decline  to  adopt  his 
definition  of  it.  Verbal  inspiration  is  simply  the  i7ispiration  of 
a  writing,  which  of  necessity  consists  of  words.  We  agree  with 
this  eminent  expositor,  that  "  We  must  take  our  views  of  in- 
spiration, not  from  a  priori  considerations,  but  entirely  from 

THE  EVIDENCE  FURNISHED  BY  THE  SCRIPTURES  THEMSELVES.      NoW 

one  express  part  of  the  evidence  furnished  by  Scripture  is  that 
"  Scripture,"  that  is,  the  written  document  composed  of  words, 


PREFACE.  11 

is  "  given  by  inspiration  of  God."  We  take  shelter  under  this 
statement,  and  refuse  to  he  dislodged  from  it  on  the  insufficient 
ground  that  certain  advocates,  or  certain  opponents,  of  the  doc- 
trine have  given  an  untenable  or  unscriptural  definition  of  it. 
The  question  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  is  not  merely 
who  are  inspired,  but  what  is  inspired. 

As  the  evidence  of  a  miracle  rests  ultimately  on  the  testi- 
mony of  the  senses,  so  it  is  with  the  canon  of  Scripture.  We 
are  inconsiderately  looking  for  too  much,  when  we  expect  pre- 
ternatural evidence  of  a  preternatural  event.  The  supernat- 
ural must,  in  the  long  run,  come  to  our  knowledge  by  natural 
evidence.  To  come  to  the  case  in  point,  the  last  books  or  book 
of  revelation  must  be  received  on  the  evidence  of  sense  or 
testimony.  For  if  this  evidence  were  miraculous,  it  would 
itself  be  a  part  of  the  canon,  and  would  need  its  own  natural 
attestation.  Hence  it  is  contrary  to  sound  sense  to  demand 
inspired  evidence  of  the  last  contribution  made  to  the  volume 
of  inspiration.  The  Israelites  had  natural  evidence  merely, 
the  evidence  of  experience  and  testimony  to  the  Divine  rev- 
elation given  to  Moses  for  their  instruction.  Incidentally  we 
have  preternatural  evidence,  the  evidence  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, for  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament.  But  we  have 
simply  natural  evidence,  that  of  credible  testimony,  for  the 
canon  of  the  New  Testament.  And  it  would  be  well  for  us 
always  to  bear  in  mind  that,  in  the  nature  of  things,  this  is  all 
we  can  have,  unless  and  until  there  be  a  third  Testament  con- 
taining an  inspired  voucher  for  the  second.  This  evidence  of 
sense  is  all  we  need  to  have,  as  it  would  be  all  we  should  still 
have  for  another  instalment  of  revelation,  if  it  were  to  come. 

Though  reason  can  formulate  the  sum  total  of  its  own  con- 


12  PEEFACE. 

elusions  concerning  the  relation  of  man  to  God,  it  cannot 
prescribe,  but  only  accept,  the  form  in  which  the  matter  of 
revelation  will  come  from  God.  But  when  it  has  the  volume 
of  revelation  before  it,  it  falls  within  its  province  to  apprehend 
and  to  exhibit  the  substance  of  the  Divine  communication  in  a 
sentence  or  system.  The  sentence  is,  "  There  is  forgiveness 
with  thee,  that  thou  may  est  be  feared."  The  system  has  been 
already  given  in  its  most  condensed  shape :  The  Father  par- 
dons, the  Son  propitiates,  the  Spirit  purifies.  The  first  of  these 
three  propositions  involves  the  other  two.  Because  it  is  the 
Father's  purpose  to  remit  sin,  he  sends  his  Son  to  redeem  and 
his  Spirit  to  regenerate.  The  first  has  two  seemingly  insur- 
mountable obstacles  to  encounter.  How  can  God,  being  just, 
forgive  sin  ;  and,  how  can  man,  being  evil,  return  to  God  ? 
The  former  is  overcome  by  the  atonement,  in  which  the  Son 
of  God  becoming  man  obeys  the  law  and  dies  the  death,  that 
the  sinner  who  trusts  in  him  with  penitent  heart  may  escape 
death  and  enter  into  life.  The  latter  is  overcome  by  the  re- 
generating work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  by  the  gospel  makes 
the  sinner  aware  of  the  mercy  of  the  Father  and  the  mediation 
of  the  Son,  and  willing  to  lean  on  the  Saviour  and  return  to 
the  Fountain  of  mercy.  These  three  fundamental  articles  of 
faith  manifestly  involve  two  others  of  co-ordinate  importance, 
the  trinity  of  persons  in  the  Godhead  and  the  incarnation  of 
the  Eternal  Word.  These  may  be  called  the  five  cardinal 
points  of  revelation.  The  questions  of  predestination  and  free- 
agency  lie  on  the  common  ground  of  reason  and  faith,  or  of 
observation  and  revelation. 

To  make  our  way  clear,  it  is  expedient  to  make  a  few  re- 
marks on  some  of  these  points.     Pardon  is  by  its  very  nature 


PREFACE.  13 

free :  "  Freely  by  Lis  grace,"  as  the  Scriptures  almost  pleo- 
nastically  express  it.  Yet  pardon  is  iii  effect  bound  by  two 
indispensable  conditions,  first  that  tlie  Mediator  satisfy  the  law 
for  the  offender,  and  next  that  the  offender,  relying  on  the 
Mediator,  return  to  the  Father.  Propitiation  implies  expiation, 
the  latter  denoting  the  payment  of  tlie  penalty  due  to  sin,  the 
former  including  also,  and  chiefly,  the  performance  of  the  obedi- 
ence due  to  the  law.  Purification  is  a  process  begun  in  the  new 
birth  and  continued  in  the  new  life.  As  long  as  there  is  a 
remnant  of  sin  or  of  the  old  man  we  must  present  the  petition 
"  Forgive  us  our  debts,"  and  plead  for  acceptance  the  merits 
of  the  Substitute.  Incarnation  involves  not  only  death  on 
account  of  sin,  but  resurrection  unto  life  on  account  of  right- 
eousness. The  revelation  of  the  three  persons  or  relatives  in 
the  essentially  one  God  unfolds  to  us  the  possibility  of  salva- 
tion. None  but  the  essentially  Divine  can  pardon,  redeem,  or 
regenerate ;  and  yet  the  Forgiver,  Redeemer,  and  Sanctifier 
must  be  relatively  or  personally  different. 

The  Book  of  Leviticus  is  the  figurative  exhibition  of  the  way 
of  salvation.  It  is  the  central  book  of  the  Pentateuch.  After 
the  history  of  the  whole  human  race  in  relation  with  God  given 
in  the  Book  of  Genesis  and,  the  growth  of  the  seed  of  Abraham 
into  a  free  and  holy  nation  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Exodus,  we 
have  in  this  highly  remarkable  and  singularly  interesting  book 
the  first  full  and  particular  development  of  the  way  of  salvation 
for  man,  in  a  series  of  symbolic  forms  suited  to  the  primeval 
stage  of  the  human  race,  and  fitted  to  edify  the  infant  people 
of  God,  unfold  to  their  mind  and  conscience  the  first  principles 
of  reconciliation  with  God  and  renovation  after  his  image,  and 
prepare  them  for  the  coming  of  the  substance  of  all  tliese  shad- 


14  PREFACE. 

ows  in  the  fulness  of  time.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  interest  of 
this  book  for  the  age  in  which  it  made  its  appearance  ;  and  the 
attentive  study  of  it  will  contribute  much  to  the  confirmation 
and  comfort  of  us  who  live  in  the  light  of  the  gospel  which  it 
foreshadows,  after  tlie  advent  of  the  Mediator  whom  it  represents. 

Dr.  Kalisch,  in  his  Introduction  to  this  book,  has  a  section 
on  its  "  illogical  arrangement,"  which  he  founds  upon  a  crude 
and  superficial  digest  of  its  contents.  It  is  the  easiest  thing 
in  the  world  to  make  a  book  appear  illogical.  We  have  only 
to  misapprehend  the  author's  principle  of  arrangement,  and 
the  thing  is  done.  Many  an  author  suffers  from  this  sort  of 
treatment  on  the  part  of  the  critic.  The  more  faithful  he  is 
to  his  real  plan,  the  more  incongruous  will  his  work  appear  to 
the  critic  who  sees  no  plan  in  it,  or  imagines  a  wrong  one. 
He  applies  the  wrong  key,  which  is  sure  not  to  fit.  He  pro- 
nounces the  lock  out  of  order ;  but  it  is  the  key  that  is 
wrong,  not  the  lock.  Dr.  Kalisch  has  not  been  at  the  pains 
to  discover  the  true  principle  of  arrangement  in  the  Book 
of  Leviticus.  It  will  appear,  wlien  due  attention  is  paid  to 
the  structure  of  the  book,  that  the  order  of  its  various  topics 
is  the  very  best  that  could  be  devised  by  an  author  who  had  a 
series  of  distinct  communications  intrusted  to  him,  not  to 
work  into  a  treatise,  but  simply  to  arrange  in  a  book. 

Tlie  book  treats  of  propitiation  and  purification.  Propitia- 
tion involves  the  priest  who  mediates  and  the  oifering  wliich 
makes  atonement.  Besides  the  priest  and  the  offering  that 
come  between,  are  the  almighty,  eternal,  holy  Creator  and  the 
fallen  creature,  between  wliom  they  come.  It  is  requisite,  for 
the  sake  of  clearness,  to  direct  our  attention  to  each  of  these 
important  objects  in  turn. 


PREFACE.  15 

The  most  boly  and  wise  God  alone  determines  what  is  the 
nature  of  the  mediation  between  himself  and  his  fallen  crea- 
tures, what  are  the  characteristics  and  functions  of  the  Mediator, 
and  what  is  the  special  significance  of  each  kind  of  offering. 
It  is  not  of  the  slightest  consequence,  therefore,  for  the  illus- 
tration of  these  matters,  what  were  the  manners  and  customs 
of  other  nations  concerning  the  worship  of  the  Deity  ;  as  they 
only  contain  some  traces  of  revealed  truth  mingled  up  with  a 
mass  of  human  error.  For  any  certain  information,  therefore, 
concerning  the  priests  and  their  functions,  the  offerings  and 
the  import  of  their  several  kinds,  and  the  feelings  and  inten- 
tions with  which  the  worshippers  came  forward  to  present 
them,  we  must  have  recourse  to  the  Scriptures  which  are 
handed  down  to  us  as  the  revelation  of  God  concerning  the 
mode  of  his  worship. 

Tlie  priest  has  two  functions  to  discharge — the  offering  of 
sacrifice,  and  the  making  of  intercession.  In  the  former  of 
these  functions,  he  has  two  parts  only  to  perform ;  the  applica- 
tion of  the  blood  and  the  burning  of  the  fat,  the  flesh,  or  the 
memorial  of  the  oblation  or  meat-offering.  These  two  parts 
arc  expressive  of  expiation  and  propitiation,  or  the  payment 
of  the  penalty  and  the  performance  of  the  righteousness  due 
by  the  transgressor.  It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  on  tltese,  as 
they  will  receive  their  illustration  from  the  explanation  of  the 
various  offerings. 

The  various  kinds  of  offerings  described  in  the  first  five 
chapters  have  tasked  the  ingenuity  of  expositors  from  the 
earliest  times;  and  much  depends  on  the  elucidation  of  their 
true  meaning  for  the  right  understanding  of  the  book  itself, 
and  of  the  way  of  salvation  for  the  lost  family  of  man  which 


16  PREFACE. 

the  Bible  unfolds.  It  is  manifest  that  there  are  throe  primary 
and  stated  offerings,  and  two  secondary  and  occasional.  The 
former  are  the  burnt-sacrifice,  the  oblation,  and  the  sacrifice  of 
peace,  expressing  atonement,  the  benefit  of  atonement,  and  the 
enjoyment  of  this  benefit ;  the  latter,  the  sin-sacrifice  and  the 
trespass-offering,  expressing  the  expiation  and  the  satisfaction 
for  an  occasional  sin  of  inadvertence.  This  is  the  result  of  a 
careful  and  patient  examination  of  their  nature  and  import. 

The  burnt-sacrifice  represents  the  great  propitiation  for  sin, 
to  be  offered  up  once  only  on  behalf  of  a  sinful  world.  This  is 
manifest  from  the  description  of  it.  It  is  "  for  the  acceptance" 
of  the  worshippers  ;  it  is  "  accepted  for  him  to  atone  for  him" ; 
and  it  is  "  a  fire-offering  of  a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord."  The 
blood  that  expiates  is  sprinkled  on  the  altar ;  and  the  burning 
of  the  whole  upon  the  altar  is  the  symbol  of  a  full  propitiation. 
The  oblation  sets  forth  the  fruit  of  righteousness,  which  is  life. 
For  bread  is  the  staff  of  life.  The  memorial  of  it  is  burnt  by 
the  priest  upon  the  altar,  as  "  a  fire-offering  of  a  sweet  smell 
unto  the  Lord."  This  denotes  a  propitiation,  which  is  made  by 
fulfilling  all  righteousness.  It  presupposes  expiation  by  the 
blood  of  the  burnt-sacrifice.  The  sacrifice  of  peace  includes 
the  three  stages,  the  blood  of  expiation,  the  fat  of  propitiation, 
and  the  feast  of  communion,  in  which  the  benefits  of  redemp- 
tion are  actually  received  and  enjoyed  by  the  worshipper.  Sub- 
ordinate and  occasional  are  the  sin-sacrifice  and  the  trespass- 
offering.  They  express  the  application  of  the  great  propitiation 
to  the  inadvertent  sins  that  are  committed  by  the  children  of 
God  after  repentance  and  adoption ;  the  former  giving  promi- 
nence to  the  punishment  due  for  the  wrong  done,  and  the  latter 
to  the  redress  due  for  the  right  left  undone.     According  to  the 


PREFACE.  17 

circumstances,  the  one  or  the  other  is  used,  or  both  are  ofifered 
for  the  same  offence. 

The  prominent  feeling  that  animates  the  worshipper  is  differ- 
ent, according  to  the  nature  of  the  offering.  In  the  burnt-sac- 
rifice he  comes  to  express  his  faith  in  God  and  in  the  divinely 
appointed  propitiation  for  sin ;  in  the  oblation  his  acknowledge- 
ment of  the  blessings  of  life ;  and  in  the  sacrifice  of  peace  the 
joy  of  salvation  which  fills  his  soul  when  he  partakes  of  those 
blessings.  The  re-awakening  of  faith  and  hope  after  the  sorrow 
and  self-condemnation  of  inadvertent  sins  prompts  to  the  sin- 
sacrifice  and  the  trespass-offering.  Hence  it  appears  that  the 
motives  which  these  offerings,  in  their  diversity  and  mutual 
relationship,  call  forth,  afford  a  fine  illustration  of  the  process 
of  salvation  in  the  inner  man.  To  lay  the  hand  upon  the  head 
of  the  burnt-sacrifice  for  the  first  time,  represents  the  turning- 
point  in  the  history  of  the  soul.  In  that  representative  act  is 
set  forth,  in  a  figure,  the  act  of  being  born  of  God  and  adopted 
into  his  family,  by  which  sanctification  is  begun  and  justification 
takes  place.  Justification  has  two  sides,  a  negative  and  a  posi- 
tive ;  it  includes  the  pardon  of  sin  in  us,  and  the  acceptance  of 
righteousness  for  us.  These  have  their  corresponding  two 
sides  in  the  atoning  sacrifice,  which  embraces,  not  only  the 
payment  of  the  penalty,  but  the  performance  of  the  righteous- 
ness due  to  the  law  of  heaven.  The  same  two-sidedness  comes 
out  in  the  definition  of  the  burnt-sacrifice,  makes  itself  very 
distinct  in  the  sin-sacrifice  and  the  trespass-offering,  and  appears 
in  the  two  parts  the  priest  has  to  perform  in  the  offering  of 
sacrifice.  To  present  the  oblation  alone,  or  in  conjunction 
with  the  sacrifice  proper,  in  which  there  is  the  shedding  of 
blood,  is  practically  to  acknowledge  the  good  works  or  right- 


18  PREFACE. 

eousness  of  the  mediator  as  the  meritorious  ground  of  the 
blessings  of  tlie  life  that  now  is  and  of  that  which  is  to  come. 
The  same  principle  applies  to  the  offering  of  the  first-fruits, 
which  is  a  confession  that  the  fruits  of  the  earth  are  the  gift  of 
God  on  the  ground  of  a  merit  not  our  own.  Hence  we  perceive 
that  the  oblation  presupposes,  even  when  it  is  not  immediately 
preceded  by,  the  sacrifice  of  propitiation.  This  is  the  ultimate 
ground  on  which  it  is  accepted,  and  the  benefits  which  it  sym- 
bolizes are  realized.  To  partake  of  the  feast  on  the  sacrifice 
of  peace,  is  to  celebrate,  not  merely  the  blessings  of  salvation, 
but  our  actual  enjoyment  of  them  in  fellowship  with  our  heav- 
enly Father.  This  is  a  divinely  instituted  emblem  of  the 
Christian  living  with  Christ.  It  is  the  symbolic  expression  of 
the  fact  that,  "  if  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  he  is  in  the  light,  we 
have  fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
his  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  There  is,  however,  another 
aspect  of  the  experience  of  a  Christian  which  is  presented  in 
the  following  verse  :  "If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin  we  deceive 
ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us."  Hence  the  singular 
aptitude  of  the  sin-sacrifice  and  the  trespass-offering  to  express 
the  application  of  the  atonement  which  our  humiliating  expe- 
rience requires  us  to  make  even  after  we  have  with  penitent 
heart  laid  our  hand  upon  the  head  of  the  great  atoning  sacri- 
fice. The  traces  of  the  old  man  betray  themselves  in  us,  which 
need  a  fresh  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  atonement,  and  a  long 
and  persevering  effort  for  their  complete  obliteration.  These 
are  the  sins  of  inadvertence,  more  or  less  grave,  which  mar  the 
spiritual  beauty  and  wound  the  conscience  of  the  child  of  God. 
The  sin-sacrifice  and  the  trespass-offering  thus  symbolize  the 
fresh  application  of  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  which  the  sin-vexed 


PREFACE.  19 

soul  lias  to  make,  while  humbly  confessing  the  easily-besetting 
sin  which  he  has  not  yet  been  able  entirely  to  lay  aside,  and 
uttering  the  often  needful  supplication,  "  forgive  us  our  debts 
as  we  forgive  our  debtors."  In  this  twofold  form  of  offering 
for  sin,  as  has  been  already  said,  the  Christian  expresses  his 
regret  for  walking  in  any  respect  after  the  flesh,  and  his  long- 
ing to  walk  in  all  respects  after  the  Spirit. 

To  bring  out  more  clearly  the  full  scope  of  this  interpreta- 
tion of  these  offerings,  it  is  requisite  to  notice  some  of  the  in- 
terpretations which  have  been  recently  presented  to  the  public. 
Kurtz  sums  up  his  view  of  the  proper  sacrifices  in  the  following 
sentence  :  "  The  same  progressive  stages,  therefore,  which  dis- 
tinguish redemption  and  its  symbolical  correlate,  the  complete 
idea  of  sacrifice,  incorporated  themselves,  as  it  were,  in  these 
three  varieties  of  sacrifice  :  the  stage  of  atonement,  of  justifi- 
cation in  the  sin-offering  ;  that  of  sanctificatio  in  the  burnt- 
sacrifice  ;  and  that  of  sacramental  fellowship,  of  the  unio 
mystica,  in  the  peace-offering."  A  faithful  adherence  to  the 
text  of  Scripture  will  show  the  inaccuracy  of  this  representa- 
tion of  the  sacrifices.  First  of  all,  as  a  whole  it  is  an  incon- 
gruous mixture  of  justification,  sanctification,  and  the  mystical 
union.  Now  proper  sacrifice  signifies  only  one  thing,  atone- 
ment, in  two  branches,  expiation  and  propitiation.  Corres- 
ponding to  this  is  justification  with  its  two  corresponding  parts, 
pardon  and  acceptance.  This  is  the  act  of  the  Father  on  the 
ground  of  the  atonement,  which  is  the  act  of  the  Mediator. 
But  sanctification  and  the  mystical  union  do  not  stand  in  the 
same  category  with  justification,  and  have  no  similar  relation 
to  sacrifice.  Hence  the  arrangement  violates  all  the  laws  of 
good  division.     And  next  in  detail  the  sin-sacrifice  denotes, 


20  PREFACE. 

not  justification,  nor  strictly  its  correlative,  atonement,  but 
expiation,  and  that  not  for  sin  in  general  or  as  a  state,  but  for 
an  occasional  sin  of  inadvertence.  Hence  it  has  no  right  to 
the  first  place,  nor  even  to  a  co-ordinate  place  with  the  burnt- 
sacrifice  or  the  peace-sacrifice.  Again,  the  burnt-sacrifice  is 
not  symbolic  of  sactification.  It  is  not  "  the  sacrifice  of  entire, 
full,  unconditional  self-surrender."  There  is  nothing  of  all 
this  in  the  scriptural  account  of  it,  as  any  one  may  see.  It  is 
simply  a  means  of  atonement  and  acceptance,  a  fire-offering  of 
a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord.  These  are  the  only  indications 
of  its  meaning,  and  they  are  plain  unmistakeable  marks  of 
atonement.  To  make  any  sacrifice  denote  self-surrender  is  to 
confound  the  feeling  of  the  offerer  with  the  meaning  of  the 
offering.  The  former  is  not  self-o  irrender,  but  faith.  The 
latter  is  the  self-surrender,  not  of  the  offerer,  but  of  the  victim. 
These  distinctions  are  obvious  to  the  thoughtful  reader.  The 
sacrifice  of  peace  closes  with  a  feast  upon  a  sacrifice,  which 
gives  it  its  distinctive  character.  The  sacrifi'^-c,  as  usual,  repre- 
sents propitiation,  the  foundation  of  peace ;  and  the  feast  at 
its  close  exhibits  the  participation  of  thv-^.  rcde<>.raed  in  the 
blessings  of  salvation. 

The  following  passage  contains  a  like  summp.ry  of  the  views 
of  Keil :  "  The  sacrificial  law,  therefore,  with  the  f  ve  species  of 
sacrifices  which  it  enjoins,  embraces  every  aspect  in  which  Israel 
was  to  manifest  its  true  relation  to  the  Lord  its  God.  Whilst 
the  sanctification  of  the  whole  man  in  self-surrender  to  the 
Lord  was  shadowed  forth  in  the  burnt-oflferings,  the  fruits  of 
tliis  sanctification  in  the  meat-offering,  and  the  blessedness  of 
the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  saving  grace  in  the  peace- 
offerings,  the  expiatory  sacrifices  furnished  the  means  of  re- 


PREFACE.  21 

moving  the  barrier  which  sins  and  trespasses  had  set  up  between 
the  sinner  and  the  holy  God,  and  procured  the  forgiveness  of 
sin  and  guilt,  so  that  the  sinner  could  attain  once  more  to  the 
unrestricted  enjoyment  of  the  covenant  grace."  Here  is  the 
same  violation  of  the  laws  of  good  division.  The  parts  should 
contain  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  whole.  But  sacrifice 
does  not  contain  sanctification  among  its  parts.  The  meat- 
offering represents  the  fruit,  not  of  sanctification,  but  of  pro- 
pitiation :  the  expiatory  sacrifices,  by  which  are  meant  the 
sin-sacrifice  and  the  trespass-offering,  are  only  both  expiatory, 
if  expiation  be  identical  with  propitiation,  and  only  the  one 
expiatory  and  the  other  propitiatory,  if  we  distinguish  these 
terms ;  and  they  properly  open  the  way  for  the  forgiveness 
of  sins  of  inadvertence.  There  is  nothing  in  the  scriptural 
account  of  the  burnt-sacrifice  to  show  that  it  means  the  self- 
surrender  of  the  worshipper.  It  is  the  victim  that  is  in  every 
case  surrendered  to  the  doom  of  death,  after  having  established 
its  claim  to  life.  It  is  not  the  feeling  of  the  offerer,  but  that 
of  the  priest  and  victim,  that  is  expressed  in  the  sacrifice. 

Kalisch  exhibits  his  view  of  the  sacrifices  in  the  following 
terms :  "  The  sacrifice  may  either  be  designed  to  evince  the 
offerer's  absolute  submission  to  the  divine  sovereignty  and  to 
acknowledge  God's  unlimited  sway  over  the  destinies  of  man  ; 
or  it  may  be  intended  as  an  expression  of  gratitude  for  bless- 
ings enjoyed  ;  or  it  may  serve  to  implore  forgiveness  and  expia- 
tion for  offences  committed ;  or,  lastly,  it  may  mark  the  return 
of  a  state  of  purity  after  a  period  of  uncleanness,  as  after  the 
recovery  from  the  leprosy  or  a  ruiming  issue.  In  the  first 
case,  it  was  a  hurnt-offering ;  in  the  second,  a  thank-offering  or 
praise-offering ;  in  the  third,  a  sin-offering  or  a  trespass-offer- 


22  PREFACE. 

ing  ;  and  in  the  last,  a  purification-offering.^''  There  is  here 
some  forcing  of  preconceived  notions  on  Scripture,  and  con- 
siderable confusion  of  things  that  differ.  In  the  view  of  the 
sacred  writer  the  sacrifice  expresses  not  the  subjective  feelings 
of  tlie  worshipper  in  presenting  it,  but  the  atonement  which 
the  victim  is  to  make  in  the  purpose  of  God.  The  burnt-sac- 
rifice represents,  not  the  absolute  submission  of  the  offerers  to 
the  divine  sovereignty,  nor  God's  unlimited  sway  over  the 
destinies  of  man,  ideas  which  are  foreign  to  the  notion  of  sac- 
rifice, and  only  akin  to  that  of  predestination,  but  the  making 
of  atonement  and  the  opening  of  the  way  for  pardon  and  accept- 
ance. The  sacrifice  of  peace  is  not  necessarily  a  thank  or 
praise  offering,  an  expression  of  gratitude  for  blessings  received, 
but  primarily  a  symbolic  enjoyment  of  the  blessings  procured 
through  an  accepted  atonement.  The  sin-sacrifice  or  trespass- 
offering  does  not  exactly  "  serve  to  implore  forgiveness  and 
expiation  for  offences  committed,"  but  exhibits  the  penalty 
paid,  or  redress  made,  for  the  faults  of  inadvertence  in  which 
holy  men  are  overtaken.  The  sacrifice  does  not  "  implore," 
but  atone  ;  and  "  forgiveness  and  expiation  "  are  not  parallel, 
but  tlie  latter  is  the  condition  of  tlie  former.  And  it  must  be 
understood  that  a  "purification-offering"  may  be  so  called, 
not  because  it  purifies,  since  its  proper  effect  is  to  propitiate, 
but  because  it  is  offered  when  purification  lias  taken  place.  It 
is  also  one  of  the  kinds  of  sacrifice  already  specified. 

A  few  remarks  only  will  be  added  in  conclusion.  The  writer 
has  been  sparing  of  philological  and  grammatical  remarks,  as 
they  are  within  the  reach  of  all  who  have  a  good  grammar 
and  a  good  lexicon.  He  has  also  arranged  them  in  the  form 
and  place  of  notes,  so  that  the  English  reader  may  peruse  the 


PREFACE.  23 

commeut  without  interruption  or  difficulty.  He  has  indulged 
in  some  occasional  repetition  to  avoid  the  trouble  of  reference. 
He  has  generally  avoided  going  far  beyond  the  stand-point  of 
the  men  for  whom  the  book  was  originally  written,  inasmuch 
as  it  was  intended  for  the  present  instruction  and  edification 
of  the  early  church.  After  the  general  view  of  the  sacrifices 
above  given,  it  is  unnecessary  to  enter  here  into  the  distinc- 
tions between  the  sin-sacrifice  and  the  trespass-offering,  the 
nature  of  the  sacrifices  of  the  two  birds  and  the  two  goats,  and 
other  debated  points,  which  will  be  treated  in  their  proper 
places.  Reflections  of  an  admonitory  nature  are  seldom  offered, 
as  they  will  come  more  freshly  and  profitably  from  the  thought- 
ful reader's  own  mind.  No  difficulty  occurring  to  the  writer 
has  been  left  without  an  attempt  at  a  full  explanation.  The 
pleasure  and  benefit  he  has  reaped  from  the  study  of  this  book 
have  been  to  him  a  great  reward.  If  the  result  of  his  study 
affords  any  gratification  or  illumination  to  any  of  his  readers, 
his  labor  will  not  be  in  vain. 

.  In  the  arrangement  of  the  text  and  notes  the  amended 
version  is  placed  over  the  comment  for  the  sake  of  reference. 
The  paragraph  may  be  advantageously  read  over  before  begin- 
ning to  peruse  the  comment  on  it.  The  figures  refer  to  the 
few  philological  notes  at  the  end  of  the  chapter.  The  ordinary 
reader  may  examine  these  by  omitting  the  Hebrew  words. 


...  •'^EC.  SEP  ibb2 


INTRODUCTION. 


X.    LEVITICUS. 

The  third  fifth  of  the  law,  called  familiarly  X'np''_n,  from  its  initial 
word,  is  designated  by  sundry  other  names,  which  are  more  or  less 
indications  of  its  nature  and  contents.  It  is  entitled  in  the  Talmud 
C^D.-'srn  n"i"n,  the  law  of  the  priests,  and  n'isai.pn  p-i'in  -|SD,  the  book 
of  the  law  of  offerings,  and  in  the  Septuagint  and  the  Yulgat-e  AevvriKov 
(I3i(3Xlov)  and  Leviticus  (liber). 

Leviticus  and  Numbers  are  the  complement  of  Exodus.  The  first 
of  these  three  books  records  the  constitution  of  the  holy  nation  ;  the 
second  supplies  the  account  of  its  chief  religious  institutions ;  and  the 
third  mainly  that  of  its  civil  institutions.  Hence  the  latter  two  form  the 
counterparts  of  one  whole.  The  religious  and  civil  concerns  of  a  nation, 
however,  are  so  interwoven  that  they  cannot  be  entirely  severed.  There 
is  therefore  a  slight  intermingling  of  these  themes  in  the  two  books. 

Leviticus  treats  of  the  ritual  of  the  chosen  people.  In  the  pre- 
ceding book  the  departure  of  Israel  out  of  the  land  of  bondage,  the 
publication  of  the  moral  law  in  ten  commandments,  and  of  the  civil 
law  in  seven  sections  of  ten  clauses  each,  and  the  erection  of  the 
tabernacle  for  the  worship  of  God  after  the  pattern  shown  in  the 
mount,  had  been  placed  on  record.  This  is  naturally  followed  by  a 
treatise  prescribing  the  ceremonial  observances,  by  which  communion 
between  God  and  the  people,  among  whom  he  had  chosen  to  dwell, 
might  be  maintained.  This  book  is  accordingly  a  divinely  instituted 
code  of  worship.  If  there  had  been  no  fall,  a  ritual  of  worship  would 
have  been  unnecessary.  The  knowledge  of  God  would  have  remained 
unclouded.  The  way  of  approaching  him  would  have  been  obvious 
and  familiar.  Every  word  would  have  been  a  note  in  the  psalm  of 
life,  every  deed  a  step  in  the  path  of  rectitude,  and  every  thought  a 
link  in  the  never-ending  chain  of  truth ;  and  all  together  would  have 
been  the  unbidden  presentation  of  a  reverent  homage  to  the  Father 
4  25 


26  INTRODUCTION. 

of  all.  But  with  a  fallen  being  all  is  changed.  Guilt  is  upon  hia 
conscience,  and  doom  is  before  his  eyes.  Of  the  mercy  of  God,  or  of 
the  mode  in  which  it  may  be  exercised,  he  can  form  no  anticipation. 
Only  a  positive  revelation  from  God  can  afford  any  ground  of  certainty 
or  comfort  on  these  points.  The  main  fact,  that  there  is  mercy  with 
God  for  the  returning  penitent,  had  been  communicated  to  the  family 
of  man  immediately  after  the  fall.  And  some  hints  had  been  given  of 
the  mode  in  which  it  could  alone  be  conveyed.  But  now  that  a 
peculiar  people  has  been  selected  to  receive  the  Divine  favor,  and  keep 
up  the  knowledge  of  God  and  his  mercy  on  the  earth,  it  is  full  time 
that  a  more  complete  and  definite  account  should  be  given  of  the  way 
in  which  the  returning  penitent  may  draw  near  to  God  with  acceptance. 
This  is  the  topic  of  the  Book  of  Leviticus.  The  worship  of  a  fallen 
being  returning  to  God  is  here  prescribed.  This  worship  must  take 
its  start  from  an  atonement  provided  by  God  and  accepted  by  man. 
Hence  the  priest  and  the  sacrifice  have  a  prominent  place  on  the  scene 
of  worship ;  and  the  book  which  describes  it  is  appropriately  termed, 
the  law  of  the  priests,  and  the  law  of  offerings.  The  priestly  family 
were  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  the  Levites  were  given  to  them  in  place 
of  the  first-born,  to  be  their  attendants  and  ministers  in  the  service 
of  the  sanctuary.  Hence  the  book  of  the  law  of  offerings  is  not  un- 
suitably styled  Leviticus ;  though  the  Levites  are  only  once  mentioned 
in  it,  and  that  incidentally  in  a  regulation  concerning  their  cities  and 
houses,  contained  in  the  twenty-fifth  chapter. 

As  the  tabernacle  and  its  furniture  had  a  typical  significance,  so  the 
priest,  the  offering,  and  the  various  observances  of  a  ritual  nature 
comprised  in  this  book  are  shadows  of  good  things  to  come,  symbolic 
representations  of  that  real  atonement  which  was  eventually  to  be 
made  by  the  High  Priest  for  the  sin  of  mankind.  Its  leading  object 
is  to  interest  the  mind  in  the  doctrines  of  redemption,  and  direct  the 
will  to  faith  in  a  Redeemer.  The  infant  race  had  to  be  trained  to  the 
only  mode  of  returning  to  God  and  abiding  with  him.  The  moral  and 
intellectual  capacity  of  fallen  man  had  to  be  developed  by  the  exhi- 
bition in  a  tangible  and  intelligible  form  of  the  ways  and  means  by 
which  reconciliation  to  heaven  might  be  effected  in  harmony  with  the 
eternal  principles  of  truth  and  holiness.  And  the  theory  of  the  atone- 
ment thus  lodged  in  the  mind  was  to  be  enforced  by  the  practice  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  27 

enjoined  rites  ;  which,  if  it  had  any  meaning,  was  the  formal  acceptance 
of  the  Divine  mercy  on  the  only  terms  on  which  it  could  be  offered. 

There  are  two  ends  contemplated  in  forming  the  regulations  for  the 
conduct  of  the  chosen  nation ;  the  one  being  the  welfare  of  the  little 
commonwealth  itself,  and  the  other  the  ultimate  reconciliation  of  the 
whole  human  race  to  their  Maker.  The  former  is  evidently  subordi- 
nate to  the  latter.  It  gives  rise  to  the  civil  code,  which  is  intermingled 
with  the  more  general  enactments,  and  helps  to  give  shape  even  to 
those  which  aim  at  the  restitution  of  all  things  in  this  fallen  world.  The 
very  smallness  of  the  nation  rendered  it  more  easy  to  give  a  practical 
realization  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth  ;  inasmuch  as  the  people 
were  enabled  to  convene  for  the  purpose  of  common  worship  three 
times  a  year  at  the  centre  of  the  community.  The  one  temple  in  the 
holy  city  was  the  meet  figure  of  the  one  heaven,  where  he  resides  who 
is  at  the  same  time  King  of  the  kings  of  earth  and  Monarch  of  the 
universe  of  things.  And  the  theocracy  of  Israel  was  the  germ  and 
type  of  that  kingdom  of  righteousness  and  peace  which  was  eventually 
to  be  set  up  on  earth,  and  thenceforward  never  to  be  moved. 

To  this  grander  end  the  main  body  of  the  peculiar  institutions  of 
Israel  had  regard.  The  moral  law  was  proclaimed  to  bring  home 
again  to  the  vmderstanding  and  the  conscience  of  man  the  great 
principles  of  rectitude  and  personal  responsibility  to  his  Maker.  The 
sense  of  guilt  having  been  in  this  way  awakened,  craved  some  relief 
from  the  dark  prospect  which  loomed  in  the  future.  The  institutions 
of  Leviticus  are  calculated  to  satisfy  this  need.  The  principle  of 
redemption,  as  the  only  legitimate  method  of  reconciliation  to  God, 
is  hereby  implanted  in  the  human  breast.  The  minister  of  atonement 
is  set  forth  in  the  priest ;  the  means  of  atonement  in  the  sacrifice, 
which  is  the  shedding  of  blood,  or  the  giving  of  life  for  life.  Compli- 
ance on  the  part  of  the  sinner  with  the  prescribed  ritual,  coming  to 
God  in  his  sanctuary,  availing  himself  of  the  good  offices  of  the  high 
priest,  and  presenting  through  him  the  appointed  exchange  for  his 
own  life ;  these  form  the  entrance  into  the  life  of  reconciliation  with 
God.  The  life  itself  corresponds  with  the  birth,  as  it  has  its  legal 
standing  in  the  same  substituted  righteousness,  and  its  essential  validity 
in  the  same  inborn  faith  and  repentance.  The  penitent  stands  only 
in  the  righteousness  of  the  Redeemer,  who  makes  satisfaction  where 


28  INTRODUCTION. 

he  has  failed,  and  lives  only  in  the  strength  of  the  Sanctifier,  who  has 
enabled  him  to  accept  the  legal  standing  thus  mercifully  vouchsafed, 
and  thenceforth  to  walk  with  his  God  in  newness  of  life. 

On  examining  the  Book  of  Leviticus,  we  find  it  contains  two  series 
of  regulations  :  the  former,  concerning  entrance  into  communion  with 
God;  the  latter,  concerning  preparation  for  entrance  into  the  land 
of  promise.  Hence  the  former  relates  to  the  process  of  reconciliation, 
affording  natural  scope  for  faith  and  repentance,  the  first  moments  of 
the  new-born  soul;  the  latter,  to  the  state  of  reconciliation,  calling 
into  exercise  those  graces  and  endowments  which  grow  out  of  faith  in 
God  and  repentance  towards  him.  These  parts  correspond,  in  some 
measure,  with  redemption  and  salvation,  or  with  the  new  birth  and  a 
holy  life,  as  the  beginning  and  continuance  of  a  state  of  salvation. 
The  first  part  contains  sixteen  chapters,  which  fall  into  three  sections. 
Section  I.  (ch.  i.-vii.)  treats  of  the  various  kinds  of  offerings ;  Section 
II.  (ch.  viii.-x.)  of  the  consecration  of  the  priests  and  the  accom- 
panying events ;  Section  III.  (ch.  xi.-xvi.)  of  the  several  arrange- 
ments pertaining  to  purity  in  diet  (xi.)  and  in  person  (xii.-xv.),  and 
culminating  in  the  day  of  atonement  (xvi.),  which  had  direct  and 
emphatic  reference  not  only  to  propitiation,  but  also  to  purification. 
There  is,  therefore,  a  perfectly  logical  arrangement  in  this  part  —  the 
first  seven  chapters  relating  to  propitiation,  the  next  three  to  the 
appointment  of  the  propitiator,  the  next  five  to  purification,  and  the 
remaining  one  to  a  peculiar  ordinance  which  combines  propitiation 
and  purification  as  the  two  counterparts  in  the  whole  of  salvation. 
In  the  second  part,  also,  there  are  three  subdivisions.  Section  IV. 
(ch.  xvii.-xx.)  refers  to  the  civil  life  of  the  regenerate  people  ;  Section 
V.  (ch.  xxi.-xxiv.)  to  the  religious  life  ;  and  Section  VI.  (ch. 
xxv.-xxvii.)  to  the  matters"  that  affect  both  the  civil  and  the  religious 
life.  The  civil  matters  are  abstinence  from  blood,  chastity,  holiness, 
and  the  sanctions  by  which  the  regulations  concerning  them  are  en- 
forced. The  religious  matters  are  the  priests,  the  offerings,  the  days, 
and  the  house  of  God.  The  mixed  matters  are  the  Sabbath,  the 
jubilee  year,  and  the  vow.  Thus  we  discern  a  logical  principle  run- 
ning through  the  second  part,  as  well  as  the  first. 

It  is  obvious,  from  this  glance  at  its  contents,  that  this  book  is  col- 
lateral with  that  of  Exodus.     Its  object  is  not  to  advance  the  narra- 


INTRODUCTION.  29 

tive,  but  to  embody  the  ritual,  which  was  necessary  for  the  service  of 
the  tabernacle.  It  records  not  more  than  two  facts.  The  first  of 
these  is  the  consecration  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  which  appears  to 
have  taken  place  during  the  seven  days  before  the  first  day  of  the 
second  year  of  Israel's  deliverance.  The  second  is  the  stoning  of  the 
blasphemer,  which  is  recorded  after  the  directions  concerning  the  oil 
for  the  lamps  and  the  bread  for  the  table  of  the  Lord  (xxiv.),  and 
therefore  may  have  occurred  before  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle. 
The  enactments  which  form  the  main  substance  of  the  book  were 
most  probably  communicated  to  Moses  before  the  formal  commence- 
ment of  the  ceremonial  worship  on  the  first  day  of  the  second  year. 
The  only  clear  exception  to  this  is  the  portion  from  the  consecration 
of  the  priests  to  the  (^d  of  the  sixteenth  chapter  (ch.  xi.-xvi.). 
There  are  three  obvious  reasons  for  this  conclusion.  First,  some  of 
the  regulations  contained  in  it  were  necessary  for  the  due  performance 
of  the  ordinances  commenced  on  the  first  day  of  the  second  year,  such 
as  the  sacrificial  rules  (i.-vii.)  and  the  directions  concerning  the  lamps 
and  the  shew-bread  (xxiv.).  Secondly,  the  consecration  of  the  priests 
during  eight  days,  the  offerings  of  the  princes  occupying  the  twelve 
or  fourteen  days  after  the  tabernacle  was  set  up,  the  celebration  of 
the  passover  extending  over  the  next  eight  days,  the  arrangements 
of  the  census,  or  mustering  of  the  host,  and  the  celebration  of  the 
second  passover,  were  sufficient  to  occupy  Moses  from  the  twentieth 
of  the  last  month  to  the  twentieth  of  the  second  month,  when  they 
decamped  from  Mount  Sinai ;  whereas,  during  the  six  or  seven 
months  of  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle  he  must  have  be^n  at 
leisure  to  receive  the  divine  communications  recorded  in  the  present 
book.  Thirdly,  the  Book  of  Numbers  goes  back  to  the  day  on  which 
Moses  had  fully  set  up  the  tabernacle,  which  implies  that  no  absolute 
progress  had  been  made  in  the  narrative  up  to  chapter  vii.  of  that 
book.  Leviticus  is,  therefore,  mainly  taken  up  with  those  collateral 
topics  which  were  left  out  in  Exodus  in  order  to  allow  the  stately 
march  of  the  narrative  to  come  to  a  fitting  close  in  the  setting  up  of 
the  tabernacle  and  the  solemn  inauguration  of  the  national  worship. 

The  communications  thus  reserved  for  this  book  were  eminently 
worthy  of  being  embodied  in  a  separate  treatise.  The  ceremonial 
observances  of  ancient  Israel  were  all  significant  of  higher  things 


30  INTRODUCTION. 

than  themselves,  and  of  the  highest  things  in  reference  to  man. 
"Wherewithal  shall  I  come  before  the  Lord,  and  bow  myself  before 
the  high  God  ? "  is  the  question  of  transcendent  interest  for  fallen 
man.  The  present  section  of  the  law  is  a  full  and  explicit  response 
to  this  question  from  the  stand-point  of  the  church  in  the  wilderness. 
The  institutions  here  prescribed  place  it  in  the  clearest  light  in  which 
it  was  capable  of  being  presented  to  the  mind  of  that  day.  They  are 
so  many  lessons,  introducing  into  the  sphere  of  rational  contemplation 
the  fundamental  principles  of  salvation  by  a  mediator.  They  estab- 
lish a  sacrificing  priest,  presupposing  sin  and  doom  in  man,  proclaim- 
ing mercy  and  grace  in  God ;  acknowledging,  at  the  same  time,  his 
holiness,  justice,  and  truth;  revealing  the  method  of  propitiation 
wherein  the  deliverer  undertakes  to  fulfil  the  demands  of  the  law  for 
tho  transgressor ;  and  implying  the  change  of  regeneration,  whereby 
the  fallen  spirit  is  raised  up  again,  accepts  the  Saviour,  and  turns  from 
enmity  to  love.  The  momentous  importance  of  this  exposition  of  the 
way  of  salvation  to  the  men  of  Israel  in  the  days  of  Moses  can 
scarcely  be  exaggerated.  And  its  historical  value  to  us,  now  that  it 
is  touched  with  the  hoar  of  a  venerable  antiquity,  is  unquestionably 
great.  It  is  the  ancient  text,  of  which  the  New  Testament  is  the 
practical  and  exegetical  commentary.  In  the  Gospels  we  have  the 
fourfold  history  of  that  atonement  actually  accomplished  which  its 
ordinances  prefigure ;  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  we  read  of  the  first 
steps  of  that  new  life  which  is  shadowed  forth  in  its  second  part ;  and 
in  the  Epistles,  especially  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  we  have  the 
inspired  interpretation  of  those  typical  acts  and  things  in  it  which 
point  to  that  great  event  whereby  eternal  redemption  was  obtained. 
This  book  is  therefore  exceedingly  helpful  to  us,  not  only  from  the 
intrinsic  value  of  its  contents,  but  from  the  historical  account  which 
it  renders  of  a  remarkable  stage  in  the  development  of  that  system 
of  symbolic  ordinances  by  which  the  way  of  reconciliation  with  God 
was  exhibited  and  prognosticated. 

We  append  a  scheme  of  the  contents  of  the  book : 

rSection     I.  Sacrifices,  Chap,  i.-vii. 

Entrance  into  Life.  <  Section   11.  Consecration  of  the  Priests,  viii.  -  x. 

(  Section  III.  Cleansing.    Atonement,  xi.-xvi. 

C  Section  IV.  Rules  in  Matters  Civil,  xvii  -xx. 

Progress  in  Life.      -^Section  V.  Rules  in  Matters  Religious,  xxi. -xxiv. 

(  Section  VI.  Rules  in  Matters  Civil  and  Religious,  xxv.  -  xxvii. 


COMME}s^TARY  OX  THE  PENTATEUCH. 


PART  ly. 

SECTION  I.  — OFFERINGS. 

I.   THE  BURNT-SACRIFICE. 

Ox  the  first  day  of  the  second  year  from  the  exodus  the  tabernacle 
was  set  up.  On  the  twentieth  day  of  the  second  month  (Num.  x.  11) 
the  sons  of  Israel  set  out  on  their  journey  from  Mount  Sinai  through  the 
wilderness  to  the  land  of  promise.  In  the  interval  most  of  the  follow- 
ing highly  important  events  must  have  taken  place :  The  consecration 
of  Aaron  and  his  sons  to  the  priesthood,  occupying  eight  days  (Lev. 
viii.-x.)  ;  the  preparation  of  the  water  of  purification  (Num.  xix.)  ;  the 
dedication  of  the  Levites  (Num.  viii.)  ;  the  ofierings  of  the  princes  of 
the  tribes,  occupying  twelve  days  (Num.  vii.)  ;  the  passover,  extending 
over  seven  days,  at  least  (Num.  ix.)  ;  the  numbering  of  the  people 
(Num.  i.)  ;  and  the  second  passover  (Num.  ix.).  The  last  two  events 
are  sufficient  to  occupy  the  nmeteen  days  of  the  second  month ;  and  it 
remains  to  be  seen  whether  the  preceding  occurrences  can  be  satis- 
factorily distributed  over  the  first  month.  It  is  natural  to  suppose 
that  the  offerings  of  the  princes  were  presented  on  twelve  successive 
days,  without  any  interruption,  unless  it  were  the  Sabbath.  In  that 
case,  they  should  be  placed  in  the  fourteen  days  before  the  passover. 
It  is  possible  to  arrange  the  consecration  of  the  priests  and  the  dedi- 
cation of  the  Levites  for  the  nine  days  after  the  passover  at  the  close 
of  the  first  month.  But  this  interval  would  be  necessary  to  prepare 
for  the  census,  which  was  to  be  commenced  on  the  first  day  of  the 
second  month  (Num.  i.).  Moreover,  it  seems  proper  to  proceed  with 
the  consecration  of  the  priests,  either  before  or  as  an  integral  part  of 
the  formal  dedication  of  the  tabernacle,  as  they  were  required  to  dis- 

81 


32  THE  BUENT-SACRITICE. 

charge  some  of  their  highest  functions  on  that  occasion  and  on  the 
following  twenty  days ;  and  the  concurrence  of  the  former  with  the 
latter  event  accords  best  with  the  directions  given  in  Ex.  xl.  12-15, 
and  the  particulars  recorded  in  Lev.  ix.  The  omission  of  any  detail 
of  this  incidental  ceremony  in  the  account  of  the  setting  up  of  the 
tabernacle  arises  from  the  natural  desire  of  the  narrator  not  to  em- 
barrass the  record  or  disturb  the  grandeur  of  the  leading  event  of  the 
day.  The  report  of  this  subordinate  circumstance  is  reserved  for 
another  occasion  (Lev.  viii.-x.).  But  this  is  quite  consistent  with  its 
commencement  on  the  same  day  with  the  solemn  process  of  the  erec- 
tion and  dedication  of  the  tabernacle.  In  like  manner  the  offerings 
of  the  princes  are  not  mentioned  until  we  come  to  Num.  vii.,  although 
it  is  there  stated  that  they  began  to  be  offered  on  the  day  on  which 
the  tabernacle  was  set  up.  Hence  the  order  of  events  may  have  been 
the  following :  In  the  process  of  setting  up  the  tabernacle,  which  is 
carried  on  for  seven  days,  and  consummated  on  the  first  day  of  the 
second  year,  the  consecration  of  the  priests  takes  place  as  an  essential 
and  concurrent  part  of  the  whole  ceremony.  On  the  day  of  its  con- 
summation the  princes  appear  prepared  with  their  offerings.  The 
waggons  and  oxen  may  have  been  accepted  then  and  there,  and  the 
arrangement  made  for  the  successive  presentation  of  their  sacrifices 
on  the  twelve  or  thirteen  following  days.  Hence  their  offerings  wiU 
have  been  completed  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month,  if  we  allow 
the  Sabbath  to  be  a  day  of  intermission.  As  the  Levites  are  said  to 
be  sprinkled  with  water  of  purification,  it  is  most  natural  to  suppose 
that  the  preparation  of  this  water  (Num.  xix.)  took  place  on  the 
second  day  of  the  month.  The  dedication  of  the  Levites,  narrated 
in  Num.  viii.,  after  the  offerings  of  the  princes,  and  before  the  account 
of  the  passover  (Num.  ix.),  may  thus  have  taken  place  on  the  third  of 
the  first  month,  so  that  they  would  as  soon  as  possible  be  regularly 
qualified  to  assist  the  priests  in  the  extraordinary  duties  they  were 
now  called  on  to  perform.  Thus  everything  would  be  duly  arranged 
for  the  orderly  celebration  of  the  passover  on  the  proper  day.  We 
cannot  affirm  that  this  was  the  precise  order  of  all  these  events  ;  but 
it  seems  the  most  probable,  and  it  serves,  at  all  events,  to  give  a  clear 
and  definite  conception  of  the  interesting  proceedings  that  took  place 
in  the  first  month,  and  for  some  days  before  and  after  it. 


LEVITICUS  I.   1-9.  33 

We  are  here  remiuded,  by  some  very  striking  examples,  of  the  law 
of  Hebrew  composition,  according  to  which  one  train  of  events  is 
brought  to  a  fitting  close  before  the  writer  pauses  to  go  back  for  a 
concurrent  train  of  events  that  had  been  omitted  for  the  sake  of 
perspicuity.  The  setting  up  of  the  tabernacle  is  summarily  recorded 
in  Ex.  xl.  A  contemporaneous  event  —  the  consecration  of  the 
priests,  is  narrated  afterwards,  in  Lev.  viii.-x.  It  is  obvious  that  this 
record,  with  all  its  attendant  circumstances,  would  have  marred  very 
much  the  effect  of  the  simplicity  and  beauty  of  the  statement  in  Ex. 
xl.  An  immediately  consecutive  event — the  offerings  of  the  princes 
—  is  deferred  until  the  seventh  chapter  of  the  following  book.  The 
dedication  of  the  Levites,  probably  concurrent  with  this,  and  the  cele- 
bration of  the  passover,  consequent  upon  it,  are  reported  in  Num.  viii. 
and  ix.  And  all  these  three  events  are  related  after  the  account  of 
the  census  (Num.  i.)  which  took  place  in  the  beginning  of  the  follow- 
ing month.  From  all  this  we  learn  that  Leviticus  and  a  considerable 
part  of  Numbers  form  the  needful  supplement  to  the  closing  chapters 
of  Exodus,  and  are  disposed  according  to  an  order  of  thought,  and 
not  of  time.  It  behooves  the  expositor  to  discover,  as  far  as  possible, 
this  order,  if  he  is  to  give  a  fair  interpretation  to  the  author.  It  is 
plain,  at  first  sight,  that  the  whole  narrative  in  Leviticus  may  not  go 
beyond  the  beginning  of  the  first  month. 

The  first  section  of  this  book,  which  is  now  before  us,  treats  of  the 
different  kinds  of  offerings  in  seven  chapters.  The  first  five  lay  down 
general  rules  concerning  the  burnt-sacrifice,  the  oblation,  the  sacrifice 
of  peace,  the  sin-sacrifice,  and  the  trespass-offering,  for  the  instruction 
of  the  worshipper.  The  remaining  two  prescribe  certain  special  rules 
for  the  guidance  of  the  priests  in  regard  to  these  several  offerings. 

The  first  chapter  relates  to  the  burnt-sacrifice.  It  contains  three 
paragraphs :  the  first  treating  of  the  ox  (1-9)  ;  the  second,  of  the 
sheep  or  goat  (10-13)  ;  and  the  third,  of  the  turtle-dove  or  pigeon 
(14-17). 

1-9.  The  ox  for  a  burnt-sacrifice.  1.  Called.  It  is  not  stated  who 
immediately  called,  whether  Joshua,  the  minister  of  Moses,  or  not- 
But  the  call  was  ultimately  from  the  Lord.  This  phrase  occurs  here 
for  the  fifth  and  last  time.  The  occasion  on  which  it  is  employed  is 
always  important.     In  Ex.  iii.  4,  God  called  unto  him  out  of  the 


34  THE  BURNT-SACRiriCE. 

I.  1.  And  he  called  unto  Moses,  and  the  Lord  spake  unto 
him  out  of  the  tent  of  meeting,  saying,  2.   Speak  unto  the 

midst  of  the  bush,  and  gave  him  his  great  commission.  In  Ex.  xix. 
3,  20,  the  Lord  called  to  him  to  enforce  the  keeping  of  the  covenant, 
and  to  prepare  for  the  giving  of  the  law.  In  Ex.  xxiv.  16,  he  called 
unto  him  out  of  the  midst  of  the  cloud  to  show  him  the  plan  and 
specifications  of  the  tabernacle  and  its  appurtenances.  Here  he  is 
called  once  more  to  receive  another  series  of  regulations  concerning 
the  intercourse  of  the  chosen  people  with  the  God  of  mercy.  These 
are  contained  in  the  seven  following  chapters  and  other  parts  of  the 
books  of  Leviticus  and  Numbers.  Hence  we  perceive  that  this  is  a 
suitable  beginning  for  a  new  book  of  the  law.  Spake  •unto  him.  This 
book  consists  mainly  of  oral  communications  from  the  Lord  (see  on 
V.  2)  to  Moses,  usually  alone,  but,  after  the  consecration  of  the  priests, 
sometimes  in  conjunction  with  Aaron.  To  understand  the  book  it  is 
necessary  to  bear  this  in  mind.  These  are  not  dated,  in  respect  of 
time  (except  xvi.  1),  though  the  place  is  sometimes  given.  It  is 
manifest  that  Moses,  having  these  separate  communications  by  him  in 
a  written  form,  at  length  put  them  together,  as  we  find  them  in  Le- 
viticus and  Numbers,  according  to  a  plan  suggested  by  circumstances, 
not  of  time,  but  of  use.  Without  a  knowledge  of  the  use,  we  cannot 
judge  of  tlie  plan.  Out  of  the  tent  of  meeting}  Commentators  usually 
explain  this  of  the  newly  erected  tabernacle.  This  is,  at  least,  doubt- 
ful. We  know  there  was  a  tent  which  Moses  took  and  pitched 
without  the  camp  afar  off,  and  called  the  tent  of  meeting  (Ex.  xxxiii. 
7).  We  learn  from  Lev,  vii.  38  that  Moses  received  these  directions 
concerning  the  offerings  in  Mount  Sinai.  Now,  the  tabernacle  was 
not  erected  on  the  mount ;  but  the  tent  of  meeting,  which  Moses 
pitched  afar  off  from  the  camp,  may  have  been  on  the  slopes  of  Sinai. 
It  may  have  been  near,  if  not  on,  the  spot  where  the  elders  waited 
forty  days,  until  Moses  and  his  minister  Joshua  returned  (Ex.  xxiv.  14). 
These  communications  would  thus  be  made  on  mount  Sinai.  More- 
over, these  ordinances  must  have  been  given  to  Moses  before  the 
setting  up  of  the  tabernacle.  For  the  burnt-sacrifice,  the  sin-sacrifice, 
and  the  peace-offering,  which  had  to  be  presented  on  the  grandest  of 
all  occasions  when  the  tabernacle  was  in  process  of  erection  and  for 


LEVITICUS  I.   2.  35 

sons  of  Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  If  any  man  of  you  make  an 
offering  unto  the  Lord,  of  the  cattle,  of  the  herd,  and  of  the 

twenty  days  after,  are  here  described  for  the  first  time.  And  in  par- 
ticular the  oblation  to  be  presented  by  Aaron  and  his  sons  at  their 
consecration  in  the  same  solemnity  is  specified  in  this  very  section 
(Lev.  vi.  12-16).  Hence  we  infer  that  these  seven  chapters  contain  a 
series  of  communications  which  must  have  been  made  to  Moses  in  the 
period  antecedent  to  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle  and  the  consecra- 
tion of  the  priests,  while  Bezalel  and  his  assistants  were  engaged  in 
preparing  its  various  parts  and  furnishings.  This  was  an  interval  of 
comparative  leisure  to  Moses,  during  which  he  might  receive  and 
commit  to  writing  the  successive  directions  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Lord,  which  would  be  requisite  at,  as  well  as  after,  the  setting  up  of 
the  tabernacle.  Having  in  his  sublime  narrative  given  the  place  of 
prominence  to  this  principal  event,  he  now  according  to  the  Hebrew 
usage,  returns  to  the  previous  time  to  record  an  order  of  events  which 
was  going  on  parallel  with  the  preparation  for  the  rearing  up  of  the 
Lord's  house. 

2.  Any  man,  any  descendant  of  fallen  Adam.  An  offering?  This 
is  the  general  term  for  anything  presented  to  the  Lord  by  the  intelli- 
gent creature.  It  is  a  thing  brought  nigh.  It  therefore  implies  an 
approach  to  the  Creator  on  the  part  of  the  rational  creature,  a  pre- 
senting of  something  to  him,  and  therewith  and  therein  an  acknowl- 
edgement that  he  himself  belongs  to  the  Lord,  a  dedication  of  himself 
to  the  Lord.  The  dedication  is  the  main  act  of  the  worshipper 
expressed  by  the  general  term  offering,  though  it  is  not  at  all  the 
meaning  or  essential  principle  of  sacrifice,  which  is  indeed  not  an  act 
of  the  worshipper.  Such  dedication  implies  regeneration,  faith,  and 
all  that  revival  of  right  feeling  in  the  heart  of  the  sinner  towards  hi-s 
merciful  God,  which  is  involved  in  a  right  approach  to  him.  The  Lord. 
It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  original  term  thus  rendered  through- 
out the  book,  is  Jehovah,  the  self-existent  Author  of  all  things  and 
events,  and  hence  the  Performer  of  promise  and  the  Keeper  of  cove- 
nant. This  is  accordingly  the  appropriate  divine  name  for  a  book 
treating  of  peace,  propitiation,  and  purification.  The  name  Elohim 
occurs  in  it  about  fifty  times,  and  invariably  in  relation  to  some  person 


36  THE  BURNT-SACRIFICE. 

flock  shall  ye  make  your  offering.  3.  If  his  offering  be  a 
burnt-sacrifice  of  the  herd,  a  perfect  male  he  shall  offer :  at 

whose  God  he  is  said  to  be,  never  in  an  absolute  sense.  Jehovah 
occurs  about  two  hundred  and  six  times.  Of  the  cattle.  Some  connect 
this  with  the  opening  (apodosis)  of  the  sentence,  thus,  "  If  any  man 
make  an  offering  of  the  cattle,"  thereby  affording  room  for  the  alter- 
native in  vs.  14,  "  If  his  offering  be  of  the  fowl " ;  but  we  hold  by  the 
Masoretic  pointing,  and  attach  it  to  the  close  (epitasis)  of  the  sentence, 
which  thus  prescribes  the  standard  form  of  the  offering ;  for  which, 
however,  a  less  costly  substitute  is  afterwards  admitted.  So  in  chaps, 
ii.  2,  iv.  28,  and  v.  6,  we  have  the  usual  material  prescribed  first,  with- 
out any  hint  of  the  alternative  that  is  afterwards  allowed.  A  second 
reason,  however,  is,  that  the  author  is  as  yet  speaking  of  offerings  in 
general,  and  his  observation,  therefore,  applies  to  the  whole  of  the 
animal  offerings,  whereas  the  alternative  in  vs.  14  refers  to  the  burnt- 
sacrifice  in  particular.  Cattle  are  suitable  for  sacrifices  because  they 
are  domestic,  or  home-reared,  and  thus  in  some  measure  connected 
with  man.  The  same  reason  applies  to  poultry.  On  the  other  hand, 
grain  and  fruits,  being  products  of  human  industry  and  therefore,  so 
far,  a  species  of  property,  are  suitable  for  oblations,  which  express 
gratitude  or  self-dedication  on  the  part  of  the  offerer. 

5.  A  burnt-sacrijice?  "We  adopt  this  variant  of  the  English  version 
for  what  is  usually  called  the  burnt-offering,  partly  to  avoid  the  frequent 
use  of  the  word  offering  in  this  book,  but  chiefly  to  get  somewhat 
nearer  to  precision.  The  term  whole-burning  or  holocaust  is  prefera- 
ble, so  far  as  it  is  still  more  expressive  of  its  real  nature ;  but  habit 
recoils  from  so  much  innovation.  This  is  emphatically  the  sacrifice, 
the  animal  sacrifice,  the  whole  sacrifice,  the  wholly-burnt  sacrifice. 
We  meet  with  the  burnt-sacrifice  on  two  interesting  occasions  in  Genesis. 
Noah,  standing  once  more  safe  on  dry  laud,  took  of  all  clean  cattle 
and  of  clean  fowl,  and  offered  burnt-offerings  (Gen.  viii.  20).  Abraham, 
having  his  unreserved  obedience  put  to  the  test,  offered  the  ram  caught 
in  the  thicket  for  a  burnt-offering  instead  of  his  son  (Gen.  xxii).  From 
the  remark  of  Isaac  to  his  father,  "  Behold  the  fire  and  the  wood,  but 
where  is  the  sheep  for  a  burnt-offering  ?  "  it  is  plain  that  the  burnt- 
sacrifice  was  familiar  to  the  mind  of  that  day.     It  is  the  earliest  of  all 


LEVITICUS  I.  3.  37 

the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting  he  shall  offer  it  for  his  accept- 
ance before  the  Lord.     4.  And  he  shall  lay  his  hand  upon 

proper  sacrifices^  and  iuckisive  of  them  all.  Its  essential  characteristic 
is  propitiation.  It  therefore  presupposes  sin  and  guilt  on  the  part  of 
the  creature  for  whom  it  is  offered,  and  holiness  and  mercy  on  the 
part  of  the  Creator  whom  he  has  offended.  And  it  involves  expiation, 
or  the  suffering  of  the  punishment  incurred,  as  the  indispensable  con- 
comitant of  propitiation,  or  the  full  performance  by  a  mediator  of  the 
obedience  that  had  been  withheld ;  expiation  made  by  the  death,  and 
propitiation  by  the  perfect  and  uniform  righteousness,  of  the  substitute, 
warranting  the  pardon  and  acceptance  of  him  for  whom  the  substitute 
has  undertaken.  The  particulars  follow.  Of  the  herd.  A  life,  a  soul, 
in  the  wide  sense  of  the  animal  principle,  is  needed  when  propitiation 
is  to  be  made.  Hence  the  mediator  must  be  a  person,  a  moral  being, 
a  voluntary  or  free  agent.  The  animal  soul  is  but  the  symbol  of  what 
the  propitiatory  sacrifice  must  be.  As  a  human  life  has  been  forfeited, 
a  human  life  must  be  laid  down.  Not  a  fallen  soul,  however  ;  for 
that  needs  itself  expiation,  not  to  speak  of  propitiation.  Hence  the 
vanity  of  all  merely  human  sacrifice.  The  Son  of  man  who  is  to  pro- 
pitiate must  be  himself  free  from  the  taint  of  sin.  A  perfect^  male. 
A  male  is  the  complete  and  all-inclusive  sex.  So  it  was  with  the  first 
Adam,  out  of  whom  Eve  sprang.  This  male  must  be  without  blemish, 
to  symbolize  the  moral  integrity  of  the  personal  victim.  Righteous- 
ness, perfect  obedience,  is  the  antecedent  part  he  must  have  performed. 
It  is  the  only  ground  of  propitiation.  This  is  the  undeniable  reason 
why  a  fallen  creature  can  make  no  atonement.  He  shall  offer.  By 
this  act  the  sinner  becomes  partaker  of  the  benefit  of  the  sacrifice. 
This  implies  in  him  a  knowledge  of  the  appointed  and  revealed  way 
of  salvation,  a  voluntary  trust  in  it  and  acceptance  of  it,  with  all  the  dis- 
positions which  befit  such  an  act  —  shame,  regret,  repentance,  gratitude, 
good-will.  For  his  acceptance  ;^  that  he  may  be  accepted.  This  is  the 
rendering  of  the  Sept.,  Onkelos,  and  Jerome.  The  phrase  must  be 
so  rendered  in  Leviticus  xxiii.  1 1  ;  and  this  rules  other  cases.  "  Of  his 
own  voluntary  will "  ^  would  be  otherwise  expressed.  The  acceptance 
includes  the  pardon  as  well  as  the  acquittal.  It  comes  in  here  appro- 
priately, where  the  moral  perfection,  wliich  is  its  ground,  is  intimated. 


38  THE  BURNT-SACRIFICE. 

the  head  of  the  burnt-sacrifice:  and  it  shall  be  accepted  for 
him  to  atone  for  him.    5.  And  he  shall  slaj  the  steer  before 

It  is  the  crowning  characteristic  of  proj^itiation.  Before  the  Lord.  At 
the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting,  of  the  Father's  home ;  at  the  throne 
of  grace,  though  it  may  be  afar  off,  and  by  a  mediator,  he  appears  to 
present  the  atoning  sacrifice. 

4.  Lay^  his  hand.  The  verb,  to  lean  upon,  does  not  seem  to  have 
any  stress  upon  it  here.  It  does  not  mean  to  press  upon,  but  simply  to 
lay.  Laying  the  hand  on  is  the  solemn  act  of  designating  or  destina- 
ting  to  a  certain  purpose.  Thus  Joshua  is  formally  destined  to  be  the 
successor  of  Moses  (Num.  xxvii.  8,  23).  So  here  the  ox  is  destined  to 
be  symbolically  all  that  is  implied  in  the  burnt-sacrifice.  This  signifi- 
cant act  has  come  down  to  us  from  a  hoary  antiquity.  Jacob  lays  his 
hands  on  Joseph's  sons  to  bless  them  (Gen.  xlviii.  14).  When  the 
English  phrase  represents  the  verb  denoting  to  stretch  forth,  violence 
is  often  meant  by  it  (Gen.  xxii.  12  ;  Ex.  vii.  4).  The  laying  on  of  the 
offerer's  hand  is  expressive  of  his  faith,  his  trust  in  the  revealed  mercy 
of  God,  and  his  acceptance  of  the  ransom  which  he  has  provided.  It 
shall  be  accepted  for  him.  This  is  the  positive  part  of  justification, 
and  is  jirominent  and  emphatic  in  the  burnt-sacrifice.  To  atone  *  for 
him.  Literally,  to  cover,  to  place  a  covering  over  him,  sheltering  him 
from  the  penal  consequences  of  sin,  as  well  as  investing  him  with  the 
endowment  of  righteousness  by  the  suffering  and  obedience  of  another 
in  his  stead.  Atonement  is  of  the  same  import  with  propitiation, 
which  is  thus  expressly  ascribed  to  the  burnt-sacrifice.  The  positive 
part  of  justification  always  involves  the  negative,  which  is  pardon. 

5.  He  shall  slay.^  Slay  is  a  more  general  word  than  sacrifice,  which 
is  limited  to  the  slaying  of  victims.  The  taking  of  life  from  the  victim  is 
the  expiation.  The  moral  law  is  summed  up  in  the  eighth  command- 
ment. Thou  shalt  not  steal  (see  on  Ex.  xx.  15),  that  is.  Thou  shalt  not 
take  by  force  or  guile  that  which  is  not  thine.  If  this  law  be  violated, 
the  transgressor  is  bound  to  restore  the  property  stolen.  This  is  satis- 
faction. But  this  is  not  all  the  law  of  right  demands  of  the  wrong-doer. 
It  requires  this  and  something  more  of  the  borrower,  who  has  done  no 
wrong.  This  is  therefore  no  punishment.  To  understand  what  the 
punishment  must  be,  let  us  come  to  the  ultimate  case,  that  of  the 


LEVITICUS  I.   5.  39 

the  Lord  ;  and  Aaron's  sons,  the  priests,  shall  offer  the  blood, 
and  sprinkle  the  blood  upon   the    altar  around,  which  is  at 

creature  disobeying  the  Creator.  Whatever  may  be  the  amount  of 
self-beguiling  here  practised,  there  is  at  the  root  of  all  such  disobedi- 
ence the  determination  to  thwart  the  will,  the  uniformly  and  wholly 
good  and  holy  will,  of  the  Author  of  his  being  on  the  part  of  the  crea- 
ture. Such  a  fixed  determination,  by  its  very  existence,  it  is  evident, 
forfeits  the  life  that  was  given,  even  before  the  attempt  is  made  to 
carry  it  into  effect.  "When  it  is  actually  executed,  therefore,  the 
offender  by  the  very  act  forfeits  life.  Death,  be  it  remembered,  how- 
ever, is  not  annihilation.  As  life  is  not  mere  existence,  but  a  holy 
and  happy  state  of  being,  so  death  is  not  mere  loss  of  existence,  but 
the  wreck  of  all  the  joys  and  hopes  of  a  rational  and  susceptible 
being,  an  unholy  and  unhappy  state  of  being.  Death  alone,  then,  can 
avenge  defiance  of  the  Creator.  This  is  expiation,  the  penalty  incurred 
by  sin.  Hence,  if  we  are  to  have  expiation  by  another,  by  a  mediator, 
it  must  be  by  death.  The  slaying  of  the  victim,  then,  is  the  real  ex- 
piatory sacrifice.  The  steer,  literally  the  son  of  the  herd.  This  in- 
cludes the  calf  ^  of  a  year  old  and  the  bullock  or  ox  of  greater  age. 
And  Aaron's  sons,  the  priests.  Any  one  of  them  was  sufiicient  for  the 
duty.  The  high  priest  himself  merely  presided  on  these  occasions. 
The  previous  acts,  it  is  to  be  observed,  are  performed  by  the  offerer 
himself  The  priest  now  comes  forward.  He  has  to  appear,  because 
the  bi'ute  creature  is  not  sufficient  to  signify  all  that  is  done  by  a 
mediating  act,  which  can  only  be  effected  by  a  person.  Even  the 
merely  human  priest,  though  a  jierson,  is  only  a  figure  of  the  real 
mediator  in  this  process,  since  he  is  disqualified  by  his  fallen  nature,  as 
well  as  otherwise,  for  actual  mediation.  As  mediator  he  has  two  parts 
to  perform,  one  for  the  offender  and  another  for  the  offended.  These 
come  out  in  the  sequel.  The  blood,  which  is  the  life  of  the  victim 
(Gen.  ix.  4),  is  solemnly  presented  by  the  priest  for  the  life  of  the  offerer, 
and  accepted  by  the  God  of  mercy  who  has  aj^pointed  the  atonement. 
This  is  the  first  act  of  the  priest,  as  distinct  from  the  worshipper.  In 
the  primeval  state  the  head  of  the  house  was  priest  for  himself  and 
his  household.  The  priests  are  not  only  to  present  the  blood,  but  to 
sprinkle  it  on  the  altar  of  God,  to  indicate  palpably  that  the  expia- 


40  THE  BURNT-SACRIFICES. 

the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  6.  And  he  shall  flay  the 
burnt-sacrifice,  and  cut  it  into  its  pieces.  7.  And  the  sons  of 
Aaron  the  priest  shall  put  fire  upon  the  altar,  and  lay  wood 
upon  the  fire.     8.  And  Aaron's  sons,  the  priests,  shall  lay  the 

tlon  is  made  to  him.  In  this  act  the  priest  represents  the  sinner, 
tendering  a  positive  and  negative  satisfaction  to  the  law  on  his  behalf. 
The  blood  is  the  negative  satisfaction  ;  the  freedom  from  blemish  in 
the  victim  whose  blood  is  shed  expresses  the  positive  satisfaction. 
Tlie  altar^  literally  the  place  of  slaughter,  because  the  victim  was 
sometimes  laid  bound  on  the  altar,  and  there  slain  (Gen.  xxii.  9,  10). 
Around,  on  all  sides,  in  token  of  completeness.  At  the  door  of  the  tent 
of  meeting.  The  space  in  front  of  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  was  a 
square  of  fifty  cubits,  or  about  seventy-five  feet.  The  altar  was  situ- 
ated probably  about  twenty-five  feet  from  the  gate  of  the  court,  and 
the  laver  half  way  between  it  and  the  door  of  the  tabernacle 
(Ex.  xxvii.  18 ;  xxx.  18).  At  the  distance  of  fifty  feet,  therefore  it 
was  said  to  be  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle. 

6.  And  he,  the  worshipper.  Shall  flay.  It  is  not  necessary  to  seek 
a  meaning  in  every  minute  detail  of  the  process.  Yet,  the  flaying 
of  the  victim  presents  a  striking  figure  of  the  moral  nakedness  pro- 
duced by  sin.  It  also  points  to  the  coats  of  skin  with  which  our  first 
parents  were  clothed.  Its  pieces,  the  pieces  into  which  the  animal 
was  usually  cut  for  consumption  as  food.  These  were  said  to  be 
twelve  in  number.  7.  And  the  sons  of  Aaron.  The  second  act  of 
the  priests  was  to  burn  the  sacrifice  on  the  altar.  Preparatory  to 
this  they  put  the  fire  and  wood  upon  the  altar.  This  mechanical  part 
might  have  been  performed  by  an  inferior  priest  or  a  Levite,  had  it 
not  been  connected  witli  the  altar.  At  all  events  when  tlie  fire  was 
once  kindled,  it  was  kept  perpetually  burning  (Lev.  iv.  6),  so  that 
this  act  had  only  to  be  performed  once.  8.  And  Aaron's  sons.  This 
is  apparently  a  third  part,  but  in  strict  reaUty,  the  second  part,  of  the 
priest's  office,  for  which  the  putting  on  of  tlie  fire  was  a  mere  prepa- 
ration. Abarbanel,  indeed,  states  that  as  the  worshipper  had  five 
things  to  do,  namely,  to  lay  his  hand  on  the  victim,  kill,  flay,  cut  it 
up,  and  wash  the  inwards,  so  the  priest  had  five  things  to  do,  namely, 
to  receive  the  blood  in  a  vessel,  to  sprinkle  it,  to  put  fire  on  the  altar, 


LEVITICUS  I.   8,  9.  41 

pieces,  the  head,  and  the  tallow  upon  the  wood  that  is  on  the 
fire  which  is  upon  the  altar.  9.  But  its  inwards  and  its  legs 
shall  he  wash  with  water :  and  the  priest  shall  burn  the  whole 

lay  on  the  wood,  and  lay  the  pieces  on  the  wood.  This  is  important, 
as  it  indicates  to  whom  the  several  parts  were  assigned  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  Jewish  Rahbis.®  The  pieces,  the  head,  and  the  tallow? 
The  head  is  here  distinguished  from  the  pieces,  because  it  was  removed 
before  the  division  into  pieces.  The  tallow  is  a  word  that  occurs  only 
three  times,  twice  in  this  chapter  and  once  in  the  eighth.  It  is  so 
rendered  simply  to  distinguish  it  from  the  usual  word  for  fat.  This 
was  taken  in  a  mass  from  the  inwards.  In  all  sacrifices  it  was  con- 
sumed by  fire  on  the  altar.  9.  Its  inwards  and  its  legs.  These  parts 
are  washed,  because  it  was  meet  and  customary  to  wash  them  before 
they  were  used  for  food.  The  hind  legs,®  which  are  chiefly  meant  by 
this  word,  are  particularly  liable  to  be  defiled  in  animals.  Sliall  he, 
the  worshipper.  Wash.  All  the  acts  that  are  not  connected  with  the 
altar  are  performed  by  the  worshipper  himself.  And  the  priest.  At 
the  close  of  the  process  it  is  said  that  the  priest  shall  burn  the  whole 
upon  the  altar,  which  is  merely  the  completion  of  the  second  function 
he  has  to  discharge.  This  second  part  he  performs  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  merciful  God,  who  by  this  significant  act  accepts  the  death 
and  obedience  of  the  substitute  on  behalf  of  the  penitent  offender. 
This  is  manifest  from  the  fact  that  the  Lord  on  certain  great  occasions 
kindles  the  altar-pile  without  the  intervention  of  the  priest  (Lev.  ix. 
24;  Judg.  vi.  21;  1  Kings  xviii.  38).  Thus  we  see  there  are  four 
parts  in  the  great  work  of  atonement :  the  righteousness  and  the  death 
of  the  victim,  and  the  presentation  and  the  acceptance  of  these  by 
which  they  become  a  propitiation.  Righteousness  can  only  be  ren- 
dered and  penal  death  can  only  be  suffered  by  a  moral  agent,  and  for 
a  man  by  a  man.  Hence  the  true  victim  can  only  be  a  person.  This 
same  person  it  is  who  intervenes  to  present  satisfaction  from  himself 
to  God,  and  receive  acceptance  from  God  to  himself  for  the  penitent, 
believing  offerer.  With  equal  certainty  it  may  be  afiirmed  that  the 
latter  two  parts  can  only  be  performed  by  a  divine  person.  It  is  not 
competent  to  any  mere  creature  to  present  his  obedience  or  his  death 
for  another,  simply  because  he  has  not  the  requisite  uidependence. 
6 


42  THE  BURNT-SACEIFICE. 

upon  the  altar,  a  burnt-sacrifice,  a  fire-offering  of  a  sweet 
smell  unto  the  Lobd. 

He  who  owes  all  to  his  Maker  cannot  by  any  possibility  answer  for 
another.  And  this  is  the  condition  of  every  creature.  Much  less 
can  any  creature  take  upon  himself  to  accept  on  the  part  of  God  the 
service  of  the  substitute  on  behalf  of  the  penitent.  Shall  hurn^  turn 
into  smoke  and  odor.  Fire  here  performs  the  part  of  the  digestive 
organ  in  man.  Hence  the  sacrifice  is  called  bread  or  food  (Lev.  iii. 
11 ;  xxi.  6).  It  resolves  the  sacrifice  into  its  elementary  parts,  which 
mingle  as  gases  and  flavors  with  the  air  of  heaven.  It  thus  comes  as 
a  grateful  perfume  before  the  sense  of  smell.  The  whole.  The  whole 
victim  is  burned  upon  the  altar  to  represent  the  full  propitiation  for 
sin.  The  burnt-sacrifice  is  also  the  model  and  complex  of  all  sacrifices, 
and  on  this  account  it  is  fitting  that  the  whole  should  go  up  on  the 
altar.  But  a  further  reason  is  that  it  is  the  propitiation  not  for  a 
particular  transgression,  but  for  a  sinful  state,  with  all  its  outward 
manifestations.  A  hurnt-sacrifice,  a  lifting,  a  thing  going  up  on  the 
altar,  a  general  name  for  a  sacrifice.  If  taken  from  another  root 
denoting  wrong  or  moral  evil,^  it  would  mean  a  propitiation  for  moral 
evil,  and  would  still  be  a  term  of  broad  and  deep  significance.  It 
points  to  the  great  propitiation  by  which  atonement  is  made,  once  for 
all,  on  behalf  of  returning,  hoping,  penitent  man.  This  he  pleads  at 
the  beginning  of  his  new  life,  and  continues  to  plead  as  long  as  he  is 
subject  to  sin  and  temptation.  A  fire-offering ;  a  firing  or  offering 
made  by  fire.  This  belongs  to  the  burnt-sacrifice  but  not  exclusively. 
It  is  common  to  all  offerings  that  were  laid  on  the  altar.  Of  a  sweet 
smell?  The  sense  of  smell  is  akin  to  that  of  taste.  It  is  naturally 
introduced  here,  where  the  offering  by  fire  has  diffused  itself  through 
the  air  in  savory  fumes.  It  is  a  refined  species  of  taste,  and  therefore 
the  fitter  to  symbolize  a  spiritual  feeling.  The  sweetness,  acquiescence, 
or  satisfaction  is  expressive  of  the  intense  pleasure  which  is  derived 
from  the  odor  which  scents  the  air.  Unto  the  Lord.  This  lifts  us  up 
from  the  region  of  sense,  and  reminds  us  that  we  are  on  the  heights 
of  the  moral  consciousness.  By  the  highly  expressive  figure  of  an 
exquisite  perfume  is  conveyed  to  us  the  pure  delight,  the  supreme 
complacence,  with  which  the  Lord  regards  and  receives  the  propitiation 


LEVITICUS  I.   10- 13.  ■         43 

10.  And  if  his  offering  be  of  the  flock,  of  the  sheep  or  of 
the  goats,  for  a  burnt-sacrifice,  a  perfect  male  shall  he  offer. 
11.  And  he  shall  slay  it  at  the  flank  of  the  altar  northward 
before  the  Lord  :  and  Aaron's  sons,  the  priests,  shall  sprinkle 

for  the  sins  of  man  made  by  the  all-sufficient  Mediator.  This  atone- 
ment sjDrings  from  the  benign  purpose  of  his  own  merciful  breast. 
It  has  been  tendered  by  one  who  is  infinitely  able  and  worthy  and 
willing  to  interpose.  And  it  is  gladly  accepted  by  him  who  is  merciful 
and  gracious,  as  well  as  holy  and  true. 

Such  is  the  burnt-sacrifice.  It  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  all 
sacrifice.  It  includes  expiation  and  satisfaction,  which  are  combined 
in  propitiation.  The  trembling  sinner  who  lays  his  hand  on  the  head 
of  the  victim  is  fully  aware  that  its  whole  intent  and  content  is  the 
Mediator  doing  and  dying,  bleeding  and  interceding,  feeling  and 
bearing,  for  the  sinner,  and  that  the  sinner's  feeling  in  presenting  it  is 
altogether  external  to  its  intrinsic  significance.  They  gravely  err 
who  imagine  that  the  sacrifice  of  Scripture  is  the  expression  of  self- 
surrender  on  the  part  of  the  offerer.*  It  is  the  offering  of  it  that 
expresses  the  feeling  of  the  oflferer.  The  sacrifice  itself  expresses 
solely  the  feeling  and  deahng  of  the  Mediator  for  the  trustful  penitent 
who  ventures,  in  the  tumult  of  his  spiritual  emotions,  to  lay  his  hands 
on  it.  Let  us  carefully  distinguish  here.  In  the  burnt-sacrifice  we 
have  on  the  part  of  the  offerer,  penitence  and  trust ;  on  the  part  of  the 
Mediator,  expiation  and  propitiation  ;  and  on  the  part  of  the  Accepter, 
pardon  and  acceptance.  The  first  may  be  expressed  by  the  single 
word  faith,  the  second  by  atonement,  and  the  third  by  justification. 
It  is  obvious  to  the  judicious  reader  that  the  atonement  is  the  direct 
theme  of  this  chapter,  and  that  the  feelings  of  the  offerer  and  the 
Accepter  lie  comparatively  in  the  background. 

10-13.  The  sheep  or  goat  for  a  burnt-sacrifice.  This  was  designed 
for  the  middle  class,  who  could  not  afford  the  steer.  The  regulations 
are  in  substance  the  same  as  before.  11.  At  the  Jlank'^^  of  the  altar, 
northward.  The  place  where  the  victims  were  to  be  slain  is  now 
indicated  for  the  first  time.  The  one  specification  supplies  what  is 
wanting  in  the  other.  This  affords  room  for  a  little  variety  in  the 
statement.     The  place  assigned  for  the  slaughter  of  the  burnt-sacrifice 


44  THE  BURNT-SACRIFICE. 

its  blood  upon  the  altar  around.  12.  And  he  shall  cut  it  into 
its  pieces,  with  its  head  and  its  tallow ;  and  the  priest  shall 
lay  them  upon  the  wood  that  is  on  the  fire  which  is  upon  the 
altar.  13.  And  the  inwards  and  the  legs  he  shall  wash  with 
water;  and  the  priest  shall  offer  the  whole,  and  burn  it  upon 
the  altar ;  it  is  a  burnt-sacrifice,  a  fire-offering  of  a  sweet  smell 
unto  the  Lord.  ^ 

14.  And  if  his  offering  to  the  Lord  be  a  burnt-sacrifice  of 
the  fowl,  he  shall  make  his  offering  of  the  turtles  or  of  the 
pigeons.  15.  And  the  priest  shall  offer  it  at  the  altar,  and 
pinch  off  its  head,  and  burn  it  on  the  altar :    and  its  blood 

is  expressly  extended  to  the  sin-sacrifice  and  the  trespass-oiJering, 
and  serves  no  doubt  for  all  sacrifices.  The  north,  according  to  Tholuck, 
is  selected  because  it  is  the  cold  and  dark  region,  and  therefore  akin 
to  death.  The  altar  was  no  doubt  regarded  as  facing  the  tabernacle. 
The  place  of  slaughter  was  in  that  case  at  the  right  hand,  which  is 
strong  to  smite.  The  place  of  oflfering  was,  according  to  Jewish  tra- 
dition (Joseph,  Jewish  Wars,  V.  5,  6),  at  the  left  hand,  which  is  near 
the  heart,  and  is  often  employed  in  giving.  The  cup-bearer  presented 
the  cup  on  his  left  hand.  The  place  of  ashes  was  in  the  rear,  and  the 
place  of  the  laver  in  the  front.  Ezekiel,  indeed  (xliii.  17)  states  that 
the  steps  in  his  symbolic  altar  are  to  look  toward  the  east.  But  this 
probably  means  that  the  ascent,  though  on  the  south  side,  was  not  at 
right-angles,  but  parallel  to  it,  and  rising  from  the  east,  a  not  unusual 
and  much  more  convenient  arrangement  for  those  who  officiated.  The 
prohibition  of  steps  to  the  altar  (Ex.  xx.  26),  seems  to  refer  to  the  open 
ladder  which  was  in  use  at  the  time,  and  not  to  the  earthen  slope  or 
the  boarded  or  enclosed  stair.  12.  With  its  head  and  its  tallow.  The 
preceding  verb  is  used  in  a  pregnant  sense,  to  signify  taking  oflf  the 
head  and  tallow,  as  well  as  dividing  the  body  into  its  pieces. 

14—17.  The  dove  or  pigeon  for  a  burnt-sacrifice.  The  fowl  is 
allowed  as  a  burnt-sacrifice  for  the  poorest  class.  The  turtle-dove 
and  the  pigeon  were  common  in  Palestine.  They  were  suitable  em- 
blems of  innocence.  15.  Pi7ich  off  its  head.  The  head  seems  to 
have  been  immediately  laid  ou  the  altar,  as  it  had  to  be  burned  along 


LEVITICUS  I.   16, 17.  45 

shall  be  poured  out  on  the  wall  of  the  altar.  16.  And  he  shall 
take  away  its  crop  with  its  dirt,  and  cast  it  beside  the  altar 
eastward  in  the  place  of  the  ashes.  IT.  And  he  shall  cleave 
it  with  its  wings,  but  not  divide  it :  and  the  priest  shall  burn  it 
upon  the  altar,  on  the  wood  that  is  on  the  fire :  it  is  a  burnt- 
sacrifice,  a  fire-offering  of  a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord.     § 

with  the  body.  The  blood  is  to  be  squeezed  out  on  the  wall  of  the 
altar.  16.  Its  crop  with  its  dirt}^  The  first  "its"  refers  to  the  fowl; 
but  the  second  refers  to  the  crop,  and  hence  its  contents,  and  not  the 
feathers,  as  the  Sept.  has  it,  must  be  the  meaning  of  the  word  in  the 
original  (Rosenm.).  This  is  to  be  cast  on  the  ash-heap  at  the  east 
end  of  the  altar.  17.  Cleave  it  with  its  wings.  He  is  to  split  it  up 
the  middle,  so  that  a  wing  is  on  each  side,  but  not  to  complete  the 
separation. 

In  all  these  victims  we  see  the  four  essentials  of  the  burnt-sacrifice, 
the  perfection  and  the  death  of  the  victim,  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood 
and  the  burning  of  the  body  upon  the  altar.  The  slaying  and  the 
sprinkling  of  the  blood  symbolize  the  expiation  for  sin.  The  per- 
fection and  the  burning  of  the  whole  shadow  forth  the  satisfaction 
made  by  a  perfect  obedience.  The  two  combined  constitute  the  pro- 
pitiation in  its  symbolic  form.  This  sacrifice  comprehends  the  essence 
of  all  the  sacrifices.  It  was  presented  on  account  of  sin  as  a  habitude 
of  the  fallen  soul  at  the  commencement  of  a  religious  profession  as 
the  only  mode  of  access  to  God,  and  at  fitting  seasons  as  the  sole 
ground  of  its  continuance,  in  the  morning  and  evening  of  every  day  on 
the  national  altar,  in  all  the  great  festivals,  and  on  other  suitable  occa- 
sions. It  is  thus  distinguished  from  the  sin-sacrifice  and  the  trespass- 
offering,  which  referred  to  particular  acts  or  occasions  of  sin,  and  from 
the  sacrifice  of  peace,  which  was  expressive  of  the  blessings  of  fellow- 
ship with  God.  It  was  distinguished  from  the  oblation,  as  a  sacrifice 
for  sin  is  distinct  from  a  mere  gift  of  gratitude  or  acknowledgment. 

NOTES. 

1.  Tent,  ^rk ,  it  consists  of  a  haircloth  awning.  It  is  different 
from  ISi!??? ,  the  mansion^  consisting  of  the  wall  of  boards  with  an  inner 


46  THE  BURNT-SACRIFICE. 

curtain  of  linen  (Ex.  xxvi.  1,  12).     In  the  tabernacle  tlie  former 
covered  the  latter. 

2.  Offering,  "jSi.;?  ,  a  thing  brought  near;  the  general  name  for  any- 
thing presented  to  the  Lord.  There  were  three  classes  of  Corbanim : 
1.  Dedication  gifts  for  the  sanctuary ;  2.  Taxes  for  the  maintenance 
of  worship  (first-fruits,  tithes,  first-born),  and  3.  Altar-ofierings  (Kurtz 
on  Sacrifice).     The  word  is  here  applied  to  the  latter  alone. 

3.  Burnt-sacrifice,  n^b,  that  which  goes  up,  to  wit,  on  the  altar. 
h'^'b'S ,  whole,  is  applied  to  it  in  1  Sam.  vii.  9,  and  is  presumed  to  denote 
it  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  10.  In  Ps.  li.  2  it  seems  distinct  from  it.  It  is 
also  applied  to  the  priest's  oblation  (Lev.  vi.  15)  and  to  many  other 
things.  Perfect,  n-^cn ,  having  no  blemish  or  defect  in  health  or  parts. 
"  This  freedom  from  blemish  symbolizes  the  sinlessness  and  holiness 
of  the  true  sacrifice"  (Keil),  but  not  at  all  the  sanctification  of  the 
worshipper,  who  is  not  the  burnt-sacrifice,  nor  that  of  which  it  is  the 
symbol.  For  his  acceptance,  i3i:i"i^ ,  to  gain  for  him  acceptance  with 
Ood.  This  demonstrates  the  propitiatory  nature  of  the  i^Vs  against 
all  who  deem  it  a  mere  expression  of  devotion.  It  is  corroborated  by 
the  following  verse.  Of  his  own  will,  i3i:ii.3 ,  or  rather  in  the  present 
connection  !^2^3b   (Lev.  vii.  16;  2  Chron.  xxxv.  8). 

4.  Lay,  Tj^O ,  literally  lean.  It  cannot  denote  "  a  transfer  of  the 
feelings  of  the  offerer  to  the  victim,"  because  it  is  not  the  present  dis- 
position of  the  worshipper  that  propitiates,  which  is  here  declared  to 
be  the  end  of  the  burnt-sacrifice.  To  atone,  "^QS^ ,  to  cover  another, 
by  standing  over  him  to  bear  what  he  has  incurred  and  do  what  he 
has  failed  to  do,  that  he  may  not  only  escape  the  penalty  of  his  sin, 
but  obtain  the  reward  of  obedience.  This  is  a  term  of  fundamental 
importance  in  this  book.  The  plain  statement  that  the  nbi? ,  atones 
proves  that  it  does  not  denote  the  "  self-surrender  "  of  the  offerer,  as 
Keil  and  others  think. 

5.  Slaij,  KH'^ ,  is  very  often  used  of  the  slaying  of  victims,  though 
nat  is  the  technical  word  for  sacrifice.  Calf,  bjSJ;  ox,  "nQ.  Alt<ir, 
natn ,  place  of  sacrifice. 

8.  The  five  acts  of  the  priest  are  reducible  to  two  ;  the  former  in- 
cluding the  receiving  and  sprinkling  of  the  blood,  and  the  latter  the 
laying  on  of  the  fire,  the  wood,  and  the  pieces  of  the  victim.  These 
two  acts  might,  after  the  first  occasion,  be  decorously  performed  in  two 


LEVITICUS  II.  47 

minutes  by  one  priest,  and  in  one  minute  by  two.  Tallow  "rtQ ,  adeps 
a  came  sejuiictus  (Boch.),  the  mass  of  fat  separable  from  the  intestines. 

9.  Legs,  c-^rns,  the  hind  legs,  with  which  the  locusts  leap  (xi.  21)  ; 
r.  rns,  bend,  crouch  as  the  lion  on  his  hind  legs  (Gen.  xlix.  9). 
Burn,  "■^•Jpri ,  burn  as  incense,  ^"p^ ,  that  which  is  burned  as  incense 
on  the  altar.  This  makes  a  point  of  connection  between  the  brazen  altar 
and  the  golden  altar.  Burnt-sacrifice,  nVp  sometimes  nbis ;  which  may 
be  compared  with  n^is ,  wickedness.  This  would  be  like  rxen ,  sin 
and  sin-sacrifice,  Ddx ,  trespass  and  trespass-offering;  But  see  on  vs.  3. 
A  sweet  smell,  N'tt^rnin ,  a  savor  or  odor  of  acquiescence  or  compla- 
cence. This  proves  that  the  fire-offering  denotes  propitiation  by  the 
victim,  not  self-surrender  by  the  worshipper.  It  concurs  also  with 
previous  statements  to  show  that  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  and  the 
burning  of  the  flesh  are  related,  not  as  the  justification  and  sanctifica- 
tion  of  the  saved  (Keil),  but  as  the  obedientia  passiva  et  activa  of  the 
Saviour.  The  former  would  be  a  strange  mingling  of  the  outward 
work  of  the  mediator  with  the  inward  disposition  of  him  for  whom  he 
mediates  in  the  one  sacrificial  process. 

11.  Flanh,  r|^^,  literally  thigh,  and  hence  the  hinder  part  of  the 
side. 

16.  Its  dirt,  v\T^'i':,  from  NS^,  go  forth.  The  suffix  is  feminine,  and 
therefore  refers  to  tixn^a ,  crop.  If  it  meant  feathers,  it  would  be  from 
nss ,  flee. 


n.    THE  OBLATIOX. 

The  oblation,  or  meat-offering,  is  simply  a  gift  or  donation  consisting 
of  some  vegetable  product,  mainly  grain  or  meal  in  some  form,  to  the 
Lord  as  expressive  of  good  works  as  the  ground  of  the  means  of  life, 
of  this  life  primarily,  and  ultimately  of  eternal  life.  It  either  accom- 
panied a  proper  sacrifice  or  implied  a  previous  atonement,  on  the 
ground  of  which  alone  it  could  be  acceptable.  Of  these  there  are  three 
kinds  here  mentioned,  the  second  admitting  of  three  varieties.  The 
show-bread  and  other  forms  of  oblation  will  present  themselves 
afterwards. 

1-3.  The  oblation  of  flour.  1.  An  oblation}  This  term  we  may 
use  to  denote  the  meat-offering  as  a  special  kind  of  the  more  general 


48  THE  OBLATION. 

II.  1.  And  when  a  soul  makes  an  offering  of  an  oblation 
unto  the  Lord,  his  offering  shall  be  flour ;  and  he  shall  pour 
oil  upon  it,  and  put  frankincense  upon  it.  2.  And  he  shall 
bring  it  to  Aaron's  sons,  the  priests,  and  he  shall  take  thence 
his  neaf-ful  of  its  flour  and  of  its  oil  with  all  its  frankincense ; 
and  the  priest  shall  burn  the  memorial  of  it  upon  the  altar,  a 

offering ;  namely,  the  offering  of  grain,  as  a  vegetable  product,  which 
had  a  propitiatory,  but  no  expiatory,  significance.  Flour,  fine  wheaten 
meal.  Oil,  the  pure  extract  of  the  olive  tree.  Frankincense.  Oliba- 
num,  the  thus  or  frankincense  of  tlie  ancients,  is  said  to  be  a  gum-resin 
exuded  from  the  Boswellia  thurifera  or  libanus,  of  the  natural  order 
Burseraceae,  which  grows  in  Arabia  and  India.  The  three  ingredients 
which  thus  enter  into  the  oblation  are  significant  of  the  perfect  obe- 
dience and  entire  consecration  that  are  due  to  God.  The  oil  is  the 
emblem  of  a  hallowed  mind,  illuminated  and  purified  by  the  Spirit  of 
truth  ;  the  frankincense,  of  a  holy  will  rising  to  heaven  in  prayer  and 
intercession  (Rev.  v.  8)  ;  and  the  flour,  of  the  active  and  productive 
power  of  a  spiritual  nature.  These  are  the  qualities  of  him  who  is 
at  once  the  Righteousness  and  Intercessor  of  the  penitent  believer. 

2.  And  he  shall  take  thence.  From  v.  12  it  appears  that  it  was  the 
part  of  the  officiating  priest  to  take  the  handful.  This  is  in  keeping 
with  the  previous  clause.  When  the  worshipper  brings  it  to  the 
priest,  we  expect  the  latter  to  act.  Such  an  act  accords  also  with  the 
priest  receiving  the  blood.  His  neaf-ful?  This  old  word  enables  us 
to  give  a  distinct  term  in  the  version  for  the  distinct  term  in  the 
original.  It  means  the  hand  made  hollow  for  the  purpose  of  grasping 
and  holding  it  full.  The  Rabbis  describe  it  as  the  three  fingers  bent 
over  the  palm,  and  the  thumb  and  the  little  finger  closing  the  aperture 
above  and  below.  It  is  probable  the  original  handful  was  larger  than 
this  seems  to  be.  It  was  to  include  part  of  the  meal  and  oil  and  the 
whole  of  the  frankincense.  And  the  priest.  This  is  the  principal  and 
properly  sacerdotal  act,  to  which  the  taking  of  the  handful  was  merely 
preparative.  Hence  the  writer  is  careful  to  mention  expressly  that 
the  priest  burns  the  handful  on  the  altar.  The  memorial  of  it,  the 
portion  which  brings  to  remembrance  the  whole  offering  itself,  and 


LEVITICUS  I.   2-5.  40 

fire-offering  of  a  sweet  smell  nnto  the  Lord.  3.  And  the 
remnant  of  the  oblation  shall  belong  to  Aaron  and  his  sons  :  it 
is  a  thing  most  holy  of  the  fire-offerings  of  the  Lord.        § 

4.  And  if  thou  make  an  offering  of  an  oblation  baken  in  the 
oven ;  it  shall  be  of  flour,  sweet  cakes  mingled  with  oil,  or 
sweet  wafers  anointed  with  oil.  § 

5.  And  if  thy  offering  be  an  oblation  on  a  pan,  it  shall  be 
of  flour,  sweet  bread  mingled  with  oil.  6.  Thou  shalt  break 
it  in  pieces,  and  pour  oil  thereon  ;  it  is  an  oblation.  § 

therewith  him  who  offered  it  before  the  Lord ;  not,  as  some  say,  the 
odor  of  it,  which  is  mentioned  afterwards.  A  jire-offering  of  a  sweet 
smell.  It  is  hence  to  be  regarded  as  itself  propitiatory  in  its  nature, 
and  presupposes  the  sacrifice  that  both  expiates  and  propitiates. 
3.  And  the  remnant.  The  whole  belongs  to  the  Lord  to  whom  ifhas 
been  presented.  The  memorial  is  gone  up  as  a  perfume  into  the  air 
of  heaven.  The  remnant  is  assigned  by  the  Lord  to  his  priests.  A 
thing  most  holy.  This  extraordinary  holiness  pertains,  it  seems,  to  that 
which  makes  atonement  or  is  consecrated  or  devoted  to  God,  which 
therefore  belongs  entirely  to  him,  and  hence  to  the  oblation,  the  sin- 
sacrifice,  the  trespass-offering,  the  vow,  and  the  thing  devoted.  The 
burnt-sacrifice  is  not  expressly  distinguished  as  most  holy,  probably 
because  no  part  of  it  was  to  be  eaten.  Eating  by  the  priest  was  a 
mode  of  acceptance  as  well  as  consuming  by  fire  on  the  altar. 

4-13.  The  oblation  of  cakes  or  baked  meat.  Of  this  there  are 
three  varieties.  4.  The  first  is  cooked  in  the  oven.  Baleen,  or  cooked. 
This  kind  of  oblation  is  thus  distinguished  from  the  former,  which  con- 
sisted merely  of  undressed  flour.  In  the  oven,  the  portable  oven,  or 
large  baking  vessel,  which  is  still  used  in  the  East.  Sweety  unleav- 
ened, the  one  a  positive  term  like  the  original,  the  other  a  negative. 
Gahes^  perforated  or  round,  of  a  convenient  thickness  for  a  substantial 
meal.  Mingled  with  oil.  The  oil  is  not  poured  on  them  when  shaped, 
but  mingled  with  the  flour,  and  kneaded  up  in  it.  Wafers,  pan-cakes, 
or  thin  cakes.      Anointed,  spread  or  smeared  with  oil  after  being 

The  second  kind  of  baked  flour  is  prepared  on  a  pan,  an  iron 
7 


50  THE  OBLATION. 

7.  And  if  thy  offering  be  an  oblation  in  a  pot,  it  shall  be 
made  of  flour  with  oil.  8.  And  thou  shalt  bring  the  oblation 
that  is  made  of  these  unto  the  Lord  :  and  he  shall  present  it 
to  the  priest,  and  he  shall  bring  it  unto  tlie  altar.  9.  And 
the  priest  shall  lift  from  the  oblation  the  memorial  of  it,  and 
burn  it  upon  the  altar,  a  fire-offering  of  a  sweet  smell  unto  the 
Lord.  10.  And  the  remnant  of  the  oblation  Aaron  and  his 
sons  shall  have :  it  is  a  thing  most  holy  of  the  fire-offerings 
of  the  Lord.  11.  No  oblation  which  ye  shall  offer  unto  the 
Lord  shall  be  made  with  leaven ;  for  ye  shall  burn  no  leaven 

plate  (Ezek.  iv.  3),  still  used  by  the  Arabs  and  other  Orientals  for 
baking  round  cakes  or  bannocks.  It  is  also  mingled  with  oil  and 
unleavened.  6.  Break  it  in  pieces.  Such  fritters  soaked  in  oil  or 
butter  are  common  among  the  Bedouins. 

7-13.  The  third  kind  is  boiled  in  a  pot,  a  deep  vessel  used  for 
boiling.  Hence  this  oblation  was  a  kind  of  pudding.  The  ingredients 
are  flour  and  oil.  8.  Thou  shalt  bring.  It  is  to  be  brought  unto  the 
Lord,  into  the  court  of  the  tabernacle,  the  dwelling-place  of  the  Lord. 
He  shall  present  it.  The  person  is  here  changed  from  the  second  to 
the  third ;  a  deviation  not  unusual.  Here  it  serves  to  generalize  the 
rule.  Bring  it  to  the  altar.  The  agent  here  is  usually  considered  to 
be  the  priest.  If,  however,  it  be  the  offerer,  he  merely  brings  it  to 
the  priest  who  stands  by  the  altar.  In  this  case  it  simply  completes 
the  previous  statement.  9.  And  the  priest.  His  agency  now  certainly 
begins.  Shall  lift.^  This  is  the  word  from  which  the  terumah,  or 
heave-offering,  is  derived.  But  it  seems  to  be  used  in  the  ordinary 
sense  of  raising  or  taking  up  (Keil;  see  Lev.  iii.  3;  iv.  8).  Tlie 
memorial  of  it,  not  now  a  handful,  but  a  single  cake,  or  a  spoonful  of 
the  fritters  or  pudding.  The  frankincense  is  wanting  in  the  second 
kind  of  oblation. 

11-13.  Two  general  directions  concerning  the  oblation  are  here 
given.  It  is  to  contain  leaven  never  and  salt  always.  11.  No  oblation 
....  made  with  leaven.  Leaven  is  a  portion  of  sour  dough,  which, 
when  mi/njh^d  with  the   fresh  mass,  sours  it  also.     No  leaven  nor 


LEVITICUS  II.    11-13.  51 

nor  honey  in  any  fire-offering  unto  the  Lord.  12.  An  offering 
of  first-fruits  ye  may  make  of  them  unto  the  Lord  ;  but  they 
shall  not  go  upon  the  altar  for  a  sweet  smell.  13.  And  every 
offering  of  thy  ol^lation  shalt  thou  season  with  salt ;  and  thou 
shalt  not  stop  the  salt  of  the  covenant  of  thy  God  from  thy 
oblation.     On  all  thine  offerings  thou  shalt  offer  salt.         § 

honey}^  The  latter  word  certainly  denotes  the  honey  of  bees  (Judg. 
xiv.  8).  A  kind  of  syrup  is  made  in  the  East  from  the  grape  or  the 
date  which  the  Arabs  call  dibs.  Some  suppose  this  was  also  denoted 
by  the  Hebrew  word.  The  honey  of  bees  is  gathered  from  the  cups 
of  flowers,  and  is  therefore  mainly  a  vegetable  product,  and  partakes 
of  the  qualities  of  the  plants  from  which  it  is  taken,  and  hence  it  is 
sometimes  poisonous.  It  is  capable  of  the  vinous  fermentation,  and 
therefore  may,  like  leaven,  cause  the  fermentation  of  dough.  Fer- 
mentation is  a  kind  of  decomposition,  and  consequently  of  corruption. 
It  therefore  symbolizes  evil,  and  that  which  is  capable  of  this  signifi- 
cance is  excluded  from  the  offerings  of  the  altar.  12.  An  offering 
of  first-fruits}^  First-fruits  here  is  the  first  of  any  product  of  the  field. 
The  first-fruits  of  both  sour  dough  and  honey  are  to  be  accepted. 
But  they  shall  not  go  up  on  the  altar  as  a  fire-offering,  as  they  cannot 
be  accepted  as  a  sign  of  propitiation  or  consecration.  13.  Season  with 
salt.  Salt,  in  contrast  with  leaven,  has  the  quality  of  preserving  from 
corruption  or  putrefaction.  It  serves,  therefore,  to  typify  integrity 
and  security,  qualities  which  comport  with  salvation.  Of  the  covenant. 
The  covenant  is  the  compact,  expressed  or  understood,  which  necessa- 
rily arises  from  the  co-existence  of  moral  beings  standing  in  some 
tangible  relation  to  one  another.  In  the  present  case  it  is  the  compact 
between  Jehovah  and  man,  the  terms  of  which  are  exhibited  in  the 
law,  or  the  written  revelation  communicated  by  Moses  and  enlarged 
by  successive  prophets.  One  term  of  the  covenant  of  grace  is,  that 
a  mediator  and  substitute  for  fallen  man  should  fulfil  the  law  and 
suffer  the  penalty  of  its  breach.  A  covenant  so  fulfilled  on  behalf  of 
man  can  never  fail  him  who  relies  on  it.  It  is  a  covenant  of  salt 
forever  (Num.  xviii.  19).  The  use  of  salt  to  indicate  the  stability 
and  perpetuity  of  the  covenant  was  known  among  all  nations.     On  all 


52  THE  OBLATION. 

14.  And  if  thou  offer  an  oblation  of  early  fruits  unto  the 
Lord,  ears  parched  in  the  fire,  grits  of  the  first  grain  thou 
shalt  make  the  oblation  of  tliy  early  fruits.  15.  And  thou 
shalt  put  oil  upon  it,  and  lay  frankincense  thereon :  it  is  an 
oblation.     16.  And  the  priest  shall  burn  the  memorial  of  it, 

thine  offerings.  This  shows  that  the  use  of  salt  was  not  confined  to 
the  oblation,  but  was  common  to  all  kinds  of  offerings. 

14-16.  The  third  kind  of  oblation,  that  of  early  fruits.  The  early 
fruits  were  the  first  portion  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth  presented  to  the 
Lord,  as  an  acknowledgement  that  the  whole  came  from  him,  in  order 
that  all  the  after-fruits  gathered  in  might  be  blessed  and  consecrated 
for  the  use  of  the  pious  owner.  14.  Ears  ^*  of  corn,  fully  formed,  but 
still  tender.  This  gave  the  name  of  Abib  to  the  first  month  of  the 
sacred  year,  which  contained  the  vernal  equinox,  and  was  therefore  the 
month  of  green  ears  in  Palestine.  Parched  in  the  fire.  The  Syrians, 
Arabs,  and  Kopts  were  wont  to  broil  or  toast  the  soft  ears  in  the 
blaze  of  the  fire.  Grits}*  The  grits,  or  scorched  grains,  were  then 
separated  from  the  straw  and  chaff.  Tlie  fresh  grain}*  This  word 
means  a  fruitful  field  or  cultivated  garden,  and  then  the  vegetable 
product  which  grew  on  it.  Here  it  denotes  the  full  grown,  but  still 
tender,  wheat.  The  grain  thus  prepared  was  roasted  on  a  pan  and 
regarded  as  a  very  palatable  dish.  15.  The  frankincense  here  appears 
again  along  with  the  oil.  16.  This  oblation  is  treated  in  the  same 
way  as  the  first. 

The  offerer  presents  these  means  of  nourishment  and  enjoyment  as 
the  fruit  of  perfect  obedience  on  the  part  of  the  Mediator  between 
himself  and  his  God.  Representing  this  obedience  they  are  accepted. 
The  Creator  confirms  the  worshipper  in  the  possession  of  all  earthly 
blessings,  and  in  these  as  types  of  greater  things,  even  of  all  heavenly 
blessings  needful  for  the  soul.  It  is  manifest  that  the  oil  is  the  emblem 
of  the  Spirit's  influence,  as  the  incense  is  the  symbol  of  the  Redeemer's 
work.  The  bread  also  bears  a  relation  to  the  Father,  who  giveth  bread 
to  his  children.  It  is  obvious,  also,  that  the  Messiah,  as  a  prophet, 
gives  light  to  the  mind,  as  a  priest,  makes  intercession  for  the  soul, 
and  as  a  king,  bestows  the  bread  of  life  on  liis  people.     In  these  two 


LEVITICUS  II.  53 

of  its  grits  and  of  its  oil,  with  all  its  frankincense,  a  fire-offering 
unto  the  Lord.  ^ 

chapters  we  have  the  two  great  classes  of  offerings  expounded  to  us 
in  their  primitive  form.  The  oblation  was  apparently  at  first  compre- 
hensive of  both  the  bloodless  and  the  bleeding  offerings,  as  the  offer- 
ings of  both  Cain  and  Habel  were  called  by  this  name  (Gen.  iv.  4,  5, 
When  the  burnt-sacrifice  received  a  distinct  name  (Gen.  viii.  20),  the 
oblation  came  to  be  limited  to  the  vegetable  offering.  In  a  fallen 
world  where  an  atonement  is  needed,  the  oblation  comes  in  merely  as 
the  companion  or  humble  follower  of  the  sacrifice,  which  represents 
the  full  propitiation  for  sin. 

NOTES. 

1.  Oblation,  f.nr'a,  gift,  tribute,  offering.  This  is  an  early  word, 
occurring  in  Gen.  iv.  3,  4.  It  is  there  inclusive  of  both  animal  and 
vegetable  offerings.  Its  special  meaning  as  a  vegetable  offering  appears 
first  in  Ex.  xxix.  41.  Flour  rhp,  fine,  sifted  wheaten  meal.  Frank- 
incense, in:hb ,  the  liiban  of  the  Arabs.     Hence,  Olibanum. 

2.  iVet{/,  Y'^Pf  the  hand  closed  upon  its  contents.  It  occurs  only 
three  times,  here  and  in  Lev.  v.  12 ;  vi.  8.  The  verb  means  to  take 
a  handful. 

4.  Sweet,  fis^ ,  compact,  close  in  the  grain,  and  not  raised  or  swollen 
by  leaven.  The  cognate  Y'4'^  means  to  squeeze  or  suck  out.  Sweet  is 
a  secondary  quality  retained  in  the  absence  of  leaven.  Cake  rhin, 
from  hhn ,  perforate  (Ges.)  he  round  (F.). 

9.  Lift,  C"*f7.,  whence  ir^lin,  a  lifting,  heaving. 

11.  Honey,  U^n.  The  root  probably  means  to  knead  or  press 
together  (Ges.  F.). 

12.  First-fruits,  rrciUTi ,  now  of  vegetables ;  but  sometimes  also 
the  firstlings  of  cattle. 

14.  Earhj-fruits,  dn^sa,  in  this  form  always  applied  to  vegetable 
products.  Ears  of  Corn,  S^ax,  from  -^x,  hud  or  shoot,  as  grain. 
Parched,  '''h'p^,  also,  "^b;?.  Grain,  ^^"l?,  a  fruitful  field,  and  hence 
the  fruit  of  the  field,  whether  of  the  tree  or  the  herb,  tr^^ , 
and  also  choice  vine. 


64  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  PEACE. 


ni.    THE  SACRIFICE  OF  PEACE. 


The  sacrifice^  is  distinguished  from  the  burnt-sacrifice  by  this,  that, 
while  the  burnt-sacrifice  was  a  victim  wholly  consumed  upon  the  altar, 
the  sacrifice  was  a  victim  of  which  the  flesh  was  eaten  by  the  offerer, 
and  those  whom  he  invited  to  partake  of  it.  In  this  we  have  a  kind 
of  sacrificial  feast,  very  familiar  to  all  ancient  nations.  Mention  is 
made  of  it  as  early  as  Gen.  xsxi.  54,  where  Jacob  made  a  sacrifice 
on  the  mount,  and  called  his  brethren  to  eat  bread.  Here  the  sac- 
rifice ends  in  a  common  meal,  representing  the  blessings  of  the  new 
life  of  reconciliation  with  God.  In  like  manner  Jethro  offered  sac- 
rifices to  God,  and  Aaron  and  all  the  elders  of  Israel  came  to  eat 
bread  with  him  before  God  (xviii.  12).  On  this  ground  the  passover 
is  a  species  of  the  sacrifice  (Ex.  xii.  27  ;  xxxiv.  25),  in  which  the  whole 
family  shared  as  heirs  together  of  the  benefits  of  redemption.  The 
same  characteristic,  namely,  of  a  solemn  feast  of  the  worshii^pers  upon 
the  victim,  appears  more  or  less  distinctly  in  all  the  notices  of  the 
sacrifice  ;  for  example,  in  1  Sam.  ii.  13  ;  ix.  12  ;  xx.  29,  and  2  Chron. 
vii.  4,  5.  In  accordance  with  this,  the  sacrifice  is  often  added  as  a 
distinct  thing  from  the  burnt-sacrifice,  as  in  Ex.  x.  25 ;  Lev.  xvii.  8 ; 
Num.  XV.  3-5  ;  2  Kings  v,  17  ;  Josh.  xxii.  28.  We  find  also  the  three 
kinds  of  offering  discussed  in  the  first  three  chapters  of  our  book 
enumerated  as  a  triad  in  Josh.  xxii.  29,  and  Jer.  xvii.  26.  From  all 
this  we  are  warranted  to  infer  that  in  the  sacrifice,  strictly  so  called, 
the  believing,  hoping  worshipper  eats  the  flesh  of  the  victim  as  a 
solemn  feast  before  the  Lord,  in  token  of  his  participation  in  the  rights 
and  means  of  eternal  life  flowing  from  the  propitiation  for  sin.  It 
reaches  beyond  the  burnt-sacrifice  therefore,  as  the  benefits  resulting 
from  propitiation  reach  beyond  the  propitiation  itself.  By  the  holo- 
caust the  sinner  enters  into  the  kingdom  of  grace ;  by  the  sacrifice  he 
enjoys  all  the  privileges  and  blessings  of  the  kingdom  into  which  he 
has  entered. 

The  ordinary  species  of  this  sacrifice  is  the  sacrifice  of  peace.^  This 
phrase  appears  first  in  the  time  of  Moses  (Ex.  xxiv.  5  ;  xxxii.  6) 
after  the  redemption  from  Egypt  and  the  renewal  of  the  covenant. 
It  is  rendered  sacrifice  of  salvation  (Sept.),  of  sanctities  (Onk.),  of  the 
pacific  (Jer.),  of  thanksgiving  (Trem.),  or  of  the  perfect  (Gerund.). 


LEVITICUS  III.    1,2.  55 

III.  1.  And  if  his  offering  be  a  sacrifice  of  peace,  if  he 
offer  of  the  herd,  whether  male  or  female,  he  sliall  offer  it 
perfect  before  the  Lord.     2.  And  he  shall  lay  his  liand  upon 

The  reasons  are  even  more  various  than  the  renderings.  We  may 
combine  most  of  the  renderings  by  understanding  that  it  is  the  sac- 
rifice of  those  who  are  already  saved,  sanctified,  at  peace  with  God, 
tliankful  for  his  grace,  and  perfect  in  the  substitute  he  has  provided. 
The  burnt-sacrifice  is  the  propitiation  by  which  the  worshipper  is 
reconciled  to  God ;  and  hence  it  stands  at  the  beginning  of  the  new 
life,  and  refers  to  the  ground  and  rise  of  that  life.  The  sacrifice  of 
peace  is  an  act  and  expression  of  fellowship  with  God  after  he  has 
been  reconciled.  It  is  strictly  a  symbolic  realization  of  the  blessings 
of  salvation.  Hence  it  follows  the  burnt-sacrifice,  and  attests  the  free- 
dom of  access,  which  the  childi-en  of  God  have  to  him  in  all  the  joys 
and  sorrows  of  life  on  earth  (Lev.  vii.  13  ;  Judg.  xx.  26).  This  is  its 
leading  characteristic.  Still  it  is  a  bleeding  sacrifice,  to  intimate  that 
access  to  God  is  only  and  always  through  the  intercession  of  a  media- 
tor who  has  opened  the  way  by  a  true  and  full  propitiation.  Thus  we 
perceive  that  the  burnt-sacrifice  signifies  propitiation,  the  oblation 
intercession,  and  the  sacrifice  of  peace  communion  consequent  upon 
propitiation  and  intercession.  As  the  holocaust  expresses  that  which 
is  necessary  for  all,  provision  is  made  in  the  dove  or  pigeon  for  its 
being  open  to  the  poorest.  As  access  to  God  is  the  privilege  of  his 
people  without  the  speciality  of  another  offering,  the  sacrifice  of  peace 
is  voluntary.  It  is,  therefore,  a  male  or  a  female,  of  the  herd  or  of 
the  flock  only,  because  a  dove  or  pigeon  would  not  suffice  for  the  social 
meal.  Three  kinds  of  sacrifice  of  peace  are  mentioned  in  Lev.  vii. 
12-16.  The  chapter  before  us  contains  regulations  for  one  of  the 
herd  (1-5),  or  of  the  sheep  (6-11),  or  a  goat  (12-17),  as  a  jieace 
sacrifice. 

1-5.  One  of  the  herd  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace.  1.  A  sacrifice  of 
peace}  This  is  the  usual  phrase  in  Leviticus.  Male  or  female.  The 
liberty  of  choice  arises  partly  from  the  spontaneous  nature  of  the 
offering.  Perfect.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  it  is  a  sacrifice,  and 
every  victim  represents  the  mediator,  who  must  be  himself  of  spotless 
integrity.     2.  All  the  particulars  here  mentioned  are  the  same,  and 


56  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  PEACE. 

the  head  of  his  offering,  and  slay  it  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of 
meeting;  and  Aaron's  sons,  the  priests,  shall  sprinkle  the 
blood  upon  the  altar  around.  3.  And  he  shall  offer  of  the 
sacrifice  of  peace  a  fire-offering  unto  the  Lord,  the  fat  that 
coveretli  the  inwards,  and  all  the  fat  that  is  upon  tlie  inwards. 
4.  And  the  two  kidneys  and  the  fat  that  is  on  them,  which  is 
by  the  flanks ;  and  the  caul  upon  the  liver,  with  the  kidneys 
he  shall  take  it  away.     5.  And  Aaron's  sons  shall  burn  it  on 

have  the  same  meaning  as  in  the  whole  sacrifice.  The  slaying  of  the 
victim  and  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  denote  expiation,  which  is  one 
part  of  the  prelude  to  fellowship.  3,  4.  And  he  shall  offer.  This 
refers  to  the  worshipper.  The  whole  victim  is  not  here  to  be  laid  on 
the  altar.  The  completeness  of  the  sacrifice  has  been  already  indi- 
cated by  the  burnt-sacrifice.  The  fat.  The  pieces  that  consist  of  fat 
are  here  selected  for  the  fire-offering.  The  fat  is  expressive  of  the 
holiness  which  pertains  to  the  substitute,  as  the  blood  is  significant  of 
the  penal  death  which  he  has  undertaken  to  suffer.  The  two  go  to 
make  up  what  is  called  righteousness,  or  active  and  passive  obedience 
to  the  law  for  the  sinner.  The  fat  is  sufficient  to  shadow  forth  the 
satisfaction  made  by  an  active  obedience,  and  the  flesh  is  reserved  for 
another  purpose  (Lev.  vii.  11-18).  This  purpose  is  not  here  men- 
tioned, because  this  chapter  is  entirely  devoted  to  the  sacrificial  pai*t 
of  the  service.  That  covereth  the  inwards.  Quain  informs  us  that 
"  the  fat  is  collected  in  large  quantity  round  certain  internal  parts, 
especially  the  kidneys.  It  is  deposited  beneath  the  serous  membranes, 
or  is  collected  between  their  folds,  as  in  the  mesentery  and  omentum." 
The  fat  that  covers  the  inwards  appears  to  be  that  connected  with  the 
gastro-colic  or  great  omentum  which  covers  the  bowels.  The  fat  upon 
the  inwards  is  connected  with  the  mesentery  and  the  adjacent  parts. 
The  flanks,*  the  inner  muscles  of  the  loins  in  the  region  of  the  kid- 
neys. The  caul*  upon  the  liver  seems  to  be  the  small  omentum  which 
bounds  part  of  the  liver  and  the  stomach,  and  comes  into  the  region 
of  the  kidneys,  which  is  itself  surrounded  with  the  tunica  adiposa,  a 
bed  of  fatty  matter.  He,  the  offerer,  shall  take  it  away.  5.  Aaron's 
sous  now  come  forward  to  perform  the  second  part  of  their  office.   On 


LEVITICUS  III.   5-11.  57 

the  altar  upon  the  burnt-sacrifice  which  is  upon  the  wood  that 
is  on  the  fire,  a  fire-offering  of  a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord.  ^ 
6.  And  if  his  offering  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace  unto  the  Lord 
be  of  the  flock,  male  or  female,  he  shall  offer  it  perfect.  7. 
If  he  make  his  offering  of  a  lamb,  he  shall  offer  it  before  the 
Lord.  8.  And  he  shall  lay  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  his 
offering,  and  slay  it  before  the  tent  of  meeting :  and  Aaron's 
sons  shall  sprinkle  its  blood  upon  the  altar  around.  9.  And 
he  shall  offer  of  the  sacrifice  of  peace  a  fire-offering  unto  the 
Lord  ;  the  fat  of  it,  the  entire  tail,  hard  by  the  spine  he  shall 
take  it  off;  and  the  fat  that  covereth  the  inwards,  and  all  the 
fat  that  is  upon  the  inwards ;  10.  And  the  two  kidneys,  and 
the  fat  that  is  upon  them,  which  is  by  the  flanks,  and  the  caul 
upon  the  liver,  with  the  kidneys  he  shall  take  it  away.    11.  And 

the  hurnt-sacrijice.  Not  after  the  manner  of  the  burut-sacrifice,  but 
upon  it  (Lev.  vi.  5).  The  daily  burnt-sacrifice  was  offered  every 
naorning,  and  upon  this  was  placed  the  fat  parts  of  the  sacrifice  of 
peace.  This  is  in  keeping  with  the  relation  subsisting  between  them. 
After,  and  upon  the  sacrifice  of  propitiation,  comes  that  of  com- 
munion. A  Jire-offering.  The  fire-offering  is  always  propitiatory ; 
that  is,  it  affords  a  legal  ground  of  acceptance,  as  appears  from  the 
qualifying  words  "  of  a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord."  The  blood,  then, 
expiates,  the  fat  propitiates ;  the  two  form  the  condition  of  access  to 
God  and  fellowship  with  him.  The  disposal  of  the  flesh  which 
remains  to  complete  this  important  form  of  sacrifice  is  afterwards 
determined  (Lev.  vii.  11-21). 

G-11.  The  lamb  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace.  The  process  here  is  the 
same  as  before.  8.  Before  the  tent  of  meeting;  before  the  Lord. 
9.  Tlie  entire  tail?  The  tail  of  the  broad-tailed  sheep  (ovis  laticaudia) 
weighs  at  least  ten  or  twelve  pounds,  and  consists  almost  wholly  of 
marrowy  fat.  Hard  by  the  Spine?  This  word  is  found  only  here, 
and  must  denote  the  end  of  the  backbone  or  rump.  11.  The  food. 
This  corresponds  with  the  "  sweet  smell,"  the  one  pointing  to  the  sense 
of  taste,  and  the  other  to  that  of  smell.     It  is  properly  introduced 


58  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  PEACE. 

the  priest  shall  burn  it  upon  the  altar,  the  food  of  the  fire- 
offering  unto  the  Lord.  ^ 

12.  And  if  his  offering  be  a  goat,  he  shall  offer  it  before  the 
Lord.  13.  And  he  shall  lay  his  hand  upon  its  head,  and  slay 
it  before  the  tent  of  meeting :  and  Aaron's  sons  shall  sprinkle 
its  blood  upon  the  altar  around.  14.  And  he  shall  make  of  it 
his  offering,  a  fire-offering  unto  the  Lord,  the  fat  that  covereth 
the  inwards,  and  all  the  fat  that  is  upon  the  inwards ;  15. 
And  the  two  kidneys,  and  the  fat  that  is  upon  them,  which  is 
by  the  flanks,  and  the  caul  upon  the  liver,  with  the  kidneys 
he  shall  take  it  away.  16.  And  the  priest  shall  burn  them 
upon  the  altar ;  all  the  fat  is  the  food  of  the  fire-offering  for 
a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord.     17.  It  is  a  perpetual  statute  for 

here  where  an  account  is  given  of  the  sacrifice  of  access  to  God  and 
fellowship  with  him.  The  breaking  of  bread  is  the  act  of  communion. 
Food  is  the  appropriate  emblem  of  all  that  is  delightful  in  itself  or 
conducive  to  happiness.  "When  transferred  to  moral  things  it  denotes 
perfect  obedience  to  tlie  moral  law  (Jno.  iv.  34;  vi.  35),  which  is  the 
object  on  which  God  looks  with  the  utmost  complacence.  This  is  the 
very  thing  which  is  represented  by  the  fat  on  the  altar  of  propitiation. 
The  food,  or  bread  of  God,  is  that  which  is  burned  on  the  altar  or 
reserved  from  it  to  be  eaten  by  the  priests  (xxi.  21,  22). 

12-17.  The  goat  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace.  The  ritual  here  is  a 
repetition  of  the  former.  14.  Make  of  it  his  offering.  He  shall  offer 
a  portion  of  it,  namely,  all  the  pieces  of  fat  already  specified,  16.  All 
the  fat.  The  fat,  as  we  have  seen,  is  that  which  represents  holiness 
of  heart  and  life  in  the  substitute  and  mediator.  All  the  fat  that  is 
formed  into  separate  masses  is  therefore  to  be  reserved  for  the  altar. 
Here  the  "  food  "  and  the  "  sweet  smell "  are  combined  in  the  same 
sentence  ;  and  the  senses  of  taste  and  smell  are  so  akin  as  to  be  parts 
of  a  greater  whole.  11.  A  perpetual  statute.  The  covenant  is  an 
everlasting  covenant ;  and  the  mode  of  its  exhibition  lasts  as  long  as 
the  existing  state  of  things  continues.  For  ijour  generations,  from 
generation  to  generation,  until  a  new  order  of  things  demand  a  new 


LEVITICUS  III.   17.  59 

your  generations  in  all  your  dwellings.  Ye  shall  eat  no  fat 
nor  blood.  ^ 

economy,  and  of  course,  until  the  substance  comes,  of  which  all  these 
sacrifices  are  the  shadows  (Ex.  xii.  1 4) .  In  all  your  dwellings.  Not 
only  at  the  tabernacle  in  Shiloh  and  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  but  in 
the  towns  and  villages  and  homes  where  ye  dwell  shall  this  statute,  as 
far  as  possible,  be  observed  (Ex.  xii.  20).  No  fat  nor  blood.  This  is 
the  part  of  the  statute  that  is  to  be  of  universal  obligation.  No  blood 
or  fat  is  to  be  eaten.  The  blood  shed,  the  cause  of  death,  is  set  apart 
to  denote  expiation  and  foreshadow  the  death  of  the  great  Expiator. 
The  fat  burned,  the  emblem  of  righteousness,  is  in  like  manner 
reserved  to  signify  satisfaction  and  prognosticate  the  righteousness  of 
the  Holy  One  and  the  Just,  who  is  to  magnify  the  law  by  his  perfect 
obedience.     The  two  combined  form  the  symbol  of  propitiation. 

"We  have  not  yet  exhausted  the  meaning  of  the  sacrifice  of  peace. 
We  have  merely  contemplated  the  part  of  it  which  is  properly  a  sac- 
rifice ;  and  in  this  respect  it  corresponds  with  the  burnt-sacrifice  in 
denoting  propitiation.  It  is,  therefore,  so  far  the  echo  of  the  burnt- 
sacrifice.  It  will  come  before  us  in  its  proper  and  full  light  as  an  act 
of  communion  when  we  arrive  at  chap.  vii.  Meanwhile,  the  three 
kinds  of  offering  already  described  have  been  occasionally  noticed  in 
the  previous  books  of  the  law,  and  in  this  respect  differ  from  those 
which  follow.  They  have  also  a  unity  in  themselves,  as  they  refer 
to  the  beginning  and  progress  of  a  life  of  reconciliation  with  God. 
The  burnt-sacrifice,  the  oblation,  and  the  sacrifice  of  peace  are  the 
three  great  offerings  which  are  presented  with  an  obvious  reference  to 
the  fallen  state  of  man,  but  without  reference  to  any  particular  instance 
of  transgression.  By  this  they  are  distinguished  from  the  sin-sacrifice 
and  the  trespass-offering,  which  refer  to  particular  offences.  They 
cover  the  whole  experience  of  the  man  of  God ;  the  burnt-sacrifice 
always  referring  to  the  propitiation,  by  which  he  is  reconciled  to  God, 
the  oblation  to  the  intercession,  on  the  ground  of  which  the  confession 
of  dependence  and  gratitude  and  the  consecration  of  himself  and  all 
that  he  has  to  the  Author  of  his  being  and  his  hope  are  accepted,  and 
the  sacrifice  of  peace  to  the  access  to  and  fellowship  with  his  Heavenly 
Father,  which  have  been  opened  up  to  him  by  the  whole-sacrifice  of 


60  THE  SIN-SACRIFICE. 

propitiation.  This  ritual  proves  itself  by  its  whole  significance  to  be 
a  type  awaiting  the  antitype,  a  shadow  forecasting  the  coming  substance. 
In  this  respect  it  is  eminently  adapted  to  the  nature  of  man,  who 
stands  with  his  back  to  the  past  and  his  face  to  the  future,  and  expects 
the  childish  things  of  sight  to  give  way  to  the  loftier  things  of  hope. 
Man,  like  his  Maker,  is  the  former  of  purpose. 

From  all  these  considerations  it  is  obvious  that  the  first  five  chapters 
fall  into  two  distinct  parts,  three  referring  to  offerings  which  constitute 
in  themselves  a  complete  whole,  and  two  concerning  offerings  which 
are  occasional  and  secondary,  and  of  themselves  form  a  minor  unity. 
Accordingly  a  new  communication  begins  in  the  fourth  chapter. 

KOTES. 

1.  Sacrifice,  nst  —  Feast,  Saira.  Thus,  according  to  Homer,  the 
blameless  Ethiopians  entertained  the  deities  at  a  feast  for  twelve  days ; 
in  which,  of  course,  the  inviting  worshippers  feasted  on  the  flesh  of 
the  victims  offered  to  the  celestials  (Iliad,  I.  423),  and  thus  Agamem- 
non sacrificed  a  fat  five-year-old  ox  to  the  supreme  deity  of  the 
Greeks,  and  invited  a  party  of  the  chieftains  to  partake  of  the  good 
cheer  (Iliad,  II.  402).  A  very  graphic  account  of  such  a  sacrificial  feast 
is  given  in  Iliad,  I.  446-476.  Sacrifice  of  peace,  c^r^d  nnt,  sacrifice 
of  or  concerning  the  rights,  hopes,  and  duties  of  peace  with  God. 
Also,  t.>i^'d  a"in2t  (Ex.  xxiv.  5),  or  cabd  alone  (Ex.  xxxii.  6  ;  Num. 
vi.  8).     In  Sept.  Ovaia  awT-qpLov,  in  Vulg.  hostia  pacificorum. 

4.  Flanks,  ti^DS.  Here  and  in  vs.  10,  15;  iv.  9;  vii.  4.  In  this 
sense  the  word  occurs  elsewhere  only  in  Job  xv.  27  ;  Ps.  xxxviii.  8. 
The  caul,  n"ir'i,  that  which  is  over  and  above.  It  occurs  twice  in 
Ex.  xxix.  and  nine  times  in  Leviticus,  always  in  connection  with  nns, 
the  liver. 

9.  The  tail,  n^lpx.  Root,  not  in  use,  he  stout,  thich,fat.  This  word 
occurs  for  the  first  time  in  Ex.  xxix.  22,  and  hereafter  only  in  Lev. 
vii.  3  ;  viii.  25  ;  ix.  19.      The  spine,  t^'S.'J,  only  here.     «^^?,  make  firm. 

IV.    THE  SIN-SACRIFICE. 

In  the  next  two  chapters  are  three  communications,  of  which  the 
first  (iv.  1-v.  13)  refers  chiefly  to  the  sin-sacrifice,  and  the  remaining 
two  (v.  14-26)  to  the  trespass-offering.     Both  of  these  offerings  are 


LEVITICUS  IV.  Q1 

special  sacrifices  provided  for  particular  offences.  They  are  called  sin- 
sacrifices  or  trespass-offerings,  according  as  the  sin  or  the  trespass 
comes  into  the  foreground.  Sin^  is  the  deviation  in  intent,  act,  or 
disposition  from  the  path  of  rectitude,  the  transgression  of  the  law. 
Trespass^  is  the  moral  wasteness,  the  failure,  the  guilt  in  the  sense  of 
indebtedness  to  the  party  wronged  for  the  positive  right  which  has 
been  infringed  and  ought  to  have  been  rendered.  The  transgression 
of  the  law  has  a  twofold  aspect;  the  right  undone  and  the  wrong  done. 
If  the  transgressor  were  to  do  afterwards  the  right  which  had  been 
undone,  he  would  only  have  done  what  the  righteous  man  had  all 
along  done,  and  was  bound  to  do.  To  demand  therefore  no  more  of 
him  than  such  amends  or  compensation  would  be  to  treat  him  as  well 
as  the  righteous  man  who  had  never  deviated  from  rectitude  or  had 
injured  his  neighbor  by  accident  without  ill-intent.  This  cannot  be 
the  law  of  equity.  Hence,  we  are  constrained  to  admit  that  a  penalty 
is  incurred  by  the  transgressor,  distinct  from  mere  amends,  proportional 
to  the  gravity  of  the  offence.  The  offender  is  bound  not  only  to  do 
the  right,  but  to  undo  the  wrong.  Amends,  then,  and  punishment  are 
the  two  legal  claims  against  the  transgressor.  This  is  a  conclusion 
from  the  first  principles  of  morality,  altogether  apart  from  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  sin-sacrifice  and  the  trespass-offering.  But  this  essen- 
tial distinction  finds  its  counterpart  in  these  two  kinds  of  offering. 
The  penalty  stands  in  the  foreground  in  the  sin-sacrifice  ;  the  com- 
pensation in  the  trespass-offering.  The  negative  requital  or  suffering 
deserved  is  regarded  in  the  former  ;  the  positive  righteousness  required 
is  contemplated  in  the  latter.  Hence  expiation  takes  the  lead  in  the 
sin-sacrifice  ;  propitiation  in  the  trespass-offering.  And  so  they  often 
accompany  one  another,  to  denote  the  more  emphatically  a  full  pro- 
pitiation, including  both  expiation  by  an  adequate  penalty  and  positive 
satisfaction  by  a  perfect  obedience.  The  grounds  of  this  interpreta- 
tion will  come  out  in  the  course  of  the  exposition.  Meanwhile  it  may 
be  observed  that  the  same  offence  is  called  a  sin  and  a  trespass,  and 
for  the  same  offence  both  a  sin-sacrifice  and  a  trespass-offering  are 
often  provided,  and  that  death  is  prominent  in  the  former  and  compen- 
sation in  the  latter. 

The  fourth  chapter  treats  of  the  sin-sacrifice,  strictly  so  called,  and 
deals  first  with  the  high-priest  (1-12),  then  with  the  whole  assembly 


62  THE  SIN-SACRIFICE. 

lY.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  Speak 
unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  saying,  If  a  soul  sin  in  error  against  any 
of  the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  as  to  what  should  not  be 


(13-21),  then  with  the  prince  (22-26),  and  lastly,  with  one  of  the 
people  (27-35).  It  is  addressed  to  Moses,  and  designed  for  the  people 
whose  conduct  it  is  to  regulate. 

1-12.  The  sin-sacrifice  for  the  high-priest.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake. 
This  formula  is  now  introduced  the  second  time,  indicating  a  new 
communication  and  a  second  topic.  The  sacrifices  in  these  two  chap- 
ters differ  from  the  former  in  referring  to  special  acts  of  sin.  2.  This 
verse  contains  a  general  heading,  which  applies  to  the  whole  chapter. 
The  sons  of  Israel.  Israel  is  the  prince  that  had  power  with  God  and 
prevailed  (Gen.  xxxii.  28),  and  the  sons  of  Israel  are,  therefore,  the 
people  of  God  with  whom  he  has  entered  into  a  covenant  of  peace. 
This  is  of  moment  for  the  right  understanding  of  what  follows.  If  a 
soul.  A  moral  and  responsible  being,  susceptible  of  pleasure  and 
pain  and  liable  to  temptation.  Sin.  In  this  fallen  world  there  is  no 
man  that  sinneth  not.  Certainly  not  David  nor  Solomon.  And  cer- 
tainly not  the  professors  of  faith  and  repentance  in  the  present  day, 
though  they  may  be  free  from  the  grosser  offences  of  a  more  unculti- 
vated age.  Those  who,  it  is  here  supposed,  may  fall  into  sin  are 
within  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  having  received  the  sign  of 
circumcision  and  offered  the  sacrifice  of  propitiation.  If  the  latter 
have  been  an  act  of  genuine  faith,  they  are  born  from  above  and  par- 
takers of  a  spiritual  nature.  Yet  they  are  liable  through  remaining 
infirmity  and  under  temptation  to  commit  sins  of  inadvertence.  In 
error?  This  is  an  important  word  in  this  and  the  following  chapter. 
The  sins  of  God's  people  cannot  go  beyond  errors  into  which  they  fall 
through  want  of  watchfulness  or  consideration.  On  the  other  hand, 
sins  committed  with  a  high  hand,  a  defiant  pride,  or  a  deliberate 
knowledge  and  intent  are  marks  of  a  heart  still  estranged  from  God, 
and  prove  those  who  are  guilty  of  them,  notwithstanding  their  pro- 
fession, to  have  no  claim  to  be  reckoned  among  the  people  of  God 
(Gen.  vi.  5  ;  Num.  xv.  30  ;  Deut.  xvii.  12).  Such  persons  have  either 
made  no  profession  of  return  to  God,  or  if  they  have,  are  either  self- 


LEVITICUS  IV.  1,  2.  63 

done,  and  do  against  any  of  these.  3.  If  the  anointed  priest 
sin  to  the  guilt  of  the  people,  then  he  shall  offer  for  his  sin 
which  he  hath  done  a  bullock  of  the  herd  perfect  unto  the 


deceivers  or  hypocrites.  Such  is  the  criterion  of  godliness.  Such  is 
the  serious  lesson  to  professors  of  religion,  intimated  in  this  significant 
word.  "Witting  and  wilful  transgressors  are  by  the  very  fact  excluded 
from  the  covenant  for  the  time  being,  whatever  change  of  mind  may 
come  afterwards.  Against  any  of  the  commandments  ^  of  the  Lord. 
This  is  a  very  comprehensive  phrase,  which  may  denote  any  part  or 
the  whole  of  his  revealed  will.  There  are  two  sorts  of  obligation  to 
a  particular  duty,  that  of  intrinsic  equity,  and  that  of  extrinsic 
authority.  A  law  is  binding  either  in  itself  or  from  its  source.  The 
former  is  called  a  moral  law  or  ethical  principle,  which  carries  its  light 
and  force  in  itself.  The  latter  is  called  a  positive  law  or  authoritative 
command,  which  derives  its  obligation  from  him  who  imposes  it.  The 
Creator  is  the  ultimate  source  of  all  authority,  and  he  alone  has  a 
right  to  claim  unreserved  obedience  to  his  holy  will.  The  command- 
ments of  the  Lord  have  therefore  this  second  ground  of  obligation,  as 
indeed  the  very  term  indicates.  When  his  commandments  are  dis- 
tinguished from  his  charge,  his  statutes,  and  his  judgments  (Deut. 
xi.  1),  they  appear  to  denote  specially  the  moral  law,  which  thus  in- 
cludes the  twofold  obligation  of  equity  and  authority.  From  the 
present  passage  we  learn  the  fundamental  characteristic  of  sin.  It  is 
a  deviation  from  the  commandment  of  Jehovah.  A  wrong  done  to  a 
neighbor  is  at  the  same  time  an  infringement  of  the  command  of  God, 
and  in  this  respect  partakes  of  the  character  of  sin.  But  it  is  specially 
to  be  noted  that  this  chapter  throughout  refers  to  sin  against  God,  the 
covenant  God  of  the  people,  and  not  to  that  committed  against  a  fel- 
low creature.  In  the  former  the  redress  to  be  made  is  a  minimum, 
for  we  cannot  really  rob  God  ;  but  the  penalty  to  be  endured  is  a 
maximum,  because  he  that  is  wronged  is  the  Author  of  our  being. 
In  the  latter  the  reverse  of  both  these  points  holds  good. 

3-12.  "We  come  now  to  the  special  case.  The  anointed^  priest. 
This  implies  that  there  were  priests  who  were  not  anointed,  or  at 
least  not  in  the  same  solemn  way.     The  only  distinction  of  importance 


64  THE  SIN-SACRIFICE. 

Lord  for  a  sin-sacrifice.  4.  And  lie  shall  bring  the  bullock  to 
the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting  before  the  Lord  ;  and  lay  his 
hand  upon  the  bullock's  head,  and  slay  the  bullock  before  the 
Lord.     5.  And  the  anointed  priest  shall  take  of  the  bullock's 


must  be  between  the  high  priest  and  the  other  members  of  the  priestly 
order.  He  was  to  have  a  special  anointing  at  his  investiture  and  con- 
secration (Ex.  xxix.  7  ;  Lev.  viii.  12,  oO).  And  besides,  he  only  had  a 
dignity  parallel  with  that  of  the  whole  assembly  (vs.  13).  The  anointed 
priest  therefore  appears  to  mean  the  high-priest.  Sin.  The  very  sup- 
position of  sin  in  him  implies  that  we  are  in  the  land  and  time  of  type 
and  shadow.  Here  is  only  a  high-priest  that  hath  infirmity  (Heb.  vii. 
27,  28).  He  serves  therefore  only  unto  the  example  and  shadow  of 
heavenly  things  (Heb.  viii.  5).  To  the  guilt^  of  the  people.  If  the 
high-priest  sin,  if  he  fail  in  any  point,  if  he  be  not  morally  perfect, 
the  propitiation  which  he  mediates  is  null  and  void,  and  so  the  guilt 
of  the  sinful  people  for  whom  he  is  to  mediate  remains  unremoved. 
They  are  still  naked  and  exposed  to  the  doom  of  unexpiated  sin.  No 
lower  meaning,  such  as  bad  example,  false  teaching,  or  faulty  ministra- 
tion, conveys  the  full  significance  of  the  phrase.  It  is  not  the  moral 
defect  merely,  but  the  incompetence  of  one  morally  imperfect  to  make 
an  atonement,  that  leaves  the  people  helpless  in  their  guilt.  To  remedy 
this  defect  in  the  type,  the  law  provides  an  expiation  even  for  the 
atoner,  and  tlius  enables  the  people  to  look  forward  with  confidence  to 
the  real  Atoner.  For  a  sin-sacrijice.^  The  old  name  sin-ofiering  is 
not  altogether  wrong.  It  expresses  a  truth,  namely,  that  there  is  an 
offering.  But  it  is  only  a  secondary  truth  ;  while  the  primary  fact, 
namely,  that  it  is  a  sacrifice,  a  life  given  for  my  life  by  another  who 
has  not  failed  hke  me,  and  who  is  entitled  to  take  upon  him  this  ofiice 
of  self-denying  love,  is  left  in  the  back-ground,  or  rather  in  the  dark. 
For  this  paramount  reason  we  must  disregard  custom  and,  what  we 
regret  still  more,  old  association,  and  use  the  less  euphonious  name  sin- 
sacrifice,  if  it  were  only  to  impress  more  emphatically,  on  those  who 
may  cling  to  the  old  phrase,  the  real  meaning  of  the  thing  so  desig- 
nated. That  the  chattath  is  a  sacrifice  for  sin  is  obvious  from  the 
statement  of  the  text.     It  is  equally  obvious  that  expiation,  or  the 


LEVITICUS  IV.  4-7.  f55 

blood,  and  bring  it  to  the  tent  of  meeting.  6.  And  the  priest 
shall  dip  his  finger  in  the  blood,  and  spatter  of  the  blood  seven 
times  before  the  Loed  on  the  face  of  the  veil  of  the  sanctuary. 
7.  And  the  priest  shall  put  of  the  blood  upon  the  horns  of  the 
altar  of  incense  before  the  Loed,  which  is  in  the  tent  of  meet- 
ing ;  and  all  the  blood  of  the  bullock  shall  he  pour  at  the  foot 
of  the  altar  of  burnt-sacrifice,  which  is  at  the  door  of  the  tent 

bearing  of  the  punishment  of  sin  by  dying,  is  the  leading  characteristic 
of  the  sin-sacrifice.  4,  5.  lie  that  has  sinned  inadvertently,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  burnt-sacrifice,  offers,  lays  on  his  hand,  and  slays  the  victim. 
Tlie  anointed  priest  here  officially  takes  and  brings  the  blood  (iv.  16). 
"We  learn  from  this  that  the  taking  and  bringing  of  the  blood  was  not 
the  strictly  sacerdotal  act.  This  follows  in  the  next  verse.  6.  And  the 
priest,  not  the  high-priest,  who  was  in  this  case  the  inadvertent  sinner 
for  whom  expiation  had  to  be  made,  but  the  officiating  priest  of  the 
day  or  the  occasion.  Dip  his  finger  in  the  blood.  The  blood  that 
expiates  is  the  chief  thing  in  the  sin-sacrifice.  And  spatter.^  This 
expresses  the  action  of  the  finger  dipped  in  the  blood  by  which  the 
drops  of  blood  are  cast  upon  the  object  to  which  it  is  to  be  applied. 
It  is  usually  performed  with  the  finger,  though  sometimes  with  a  sprig 
of  hyssop  (Num.  xix.  18).  Seven  times.  Seven  is  the  number  of 
perfection  and  the  signature  of  the  covenant  (Gen.  xxi.  28).  It  ex- 
presses the  fulness  and  efficacy  of  the  expiation.  Before  the  Lord. 
It  is  added,  "on  the  face  of  the  veil  of  the  sanctuary."  Here  we 
have  a  threefold  use  of  the  blood.  First,  it  is  dropped  seven  times  on 
the  veil  of  the  sanctuary  before  the  Lord.  The  altar  of  propitiation 
and  the  altar  of  intercession  are  passed  by,  because  the  offerer  of  the 
sin-sacrifice  has  been  already  accepted  through  the  burnt-sacrifice. 
Hence,  he  comes  to  the  mercy-seat  with  the  drops  of  the  victim's  blood 
pleading  for  the  pardon  of  his  inadvertent  sin.  Still  it  is  only  before 
the  veil  he  stands  and  spatters.  The  way  into  the  holiest  is  not  yet 
made  manifest.  The  type  is  but  an  imperfect  shadow.  And  lience 
though  the  worshipper  is  "  before  the  Lord,"  yet  a  veil  hangs  between 
him  and  the  divine  presence.  7.  Next  the  blood  is  put  upon  the 
horns  of  the  altar  of  incense ;  and  lastly  all  the  blood  that  remains  is 
9 


66  THE  SIN-SACRIFICE. 

of  meeting.  8.  And  all  the  fat  of  the  bullock  of  sin-sacrifice 
he  shall  life  from  it ;  the  fat  that  covereth  the  inwards,  and  all 
the  fat  that  is  upon  the  inwards  :  9.  And  the  two  kidneys,  and 
the  fat  that  is  upon  them,  which  is  by  the  flanks,  and  the  caul 
upon  the  liver,  with  the  kidneys  he  shall  take  it  away.  10.  As 
it  was  lifted  from  the  bullock  of  the  sacrifice  of  peace :  and 
the  priest  shall  burn  them  upon  the  altar  of  burnt-sacrifice. 
11.  And  the  bullock's  skin  and  all  its  flesh,  with  its  head  and 
with  its  legs,  and  its  inwards  and  its  dung ;  12.  Even  the 

poured  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  burnt-sacrifice.  This  may  indicate 
the  purging  of  these  altars  from  guilt  which  the  sin  of  inadvertence 
on  the  part  of  the  man  of  God  had  occasioned.  But  it  also  implies 
that  the  propitiation  already  made  is  not  robbed  of  its  efficacy  by  the 
inadvertent  sin.  Hence  it  appears  that  the  mercy-seat  partakes  of 
the  nature  of  an  altar,  inasmuch  as  blood  is  directed  towards  and 
applied  to  it.  "We  have,  then,  the  altar  of  propitiation,  the  altar  of 
prayer,  and  the  altar  of  mercy,  which  is  the  throne  of  grace.  At  the 
first  we  have  the  priest  sacrificing,  at  the  second  the  priest-prophet 
interceding,  at  the  third  the  priestly  and  prophetic  king  pardoning 
and  accepting.  8-10.  The  fat  is  burned  upon  the  altar,  as  in  the 
sacrifice  of  peace.  It  expresses  satisfaction,  and,  with  the  blood, 
makes  up  propitiation.  11,  12.  The  whole  of  the  following  differences 
serves  to  distinguish  the  sin-sacrifice  for  a  sin  of  inadvertence  after 
being  received  into  the  covenant  of  grace  from  the  whole-sacrifice  by 
which  propitiation  w^as  effected,  and  from  the  sacrifice  of  peace,  by 
which  the  communion  of  the  saints  in  the  blessings  of  salvation  was 
symbolized.  The  whole  bullock,  destitute  now  alike  of  all  life  and  of  all 
power,  yet  still  having  a  palpable  hold  of  existence  as  a  carcass.  The 
blood  has  expiated,  and  the  fat  has  satisfied ;  the  two  conjoined  have 
propitiated.  The  whole  victim  is  not  burned  on  the  altar,  because 
this  sacrifice  is  not  for  one  in  the  state  and  course  of  alienation  from 
God,  but  for  a  particular  sin  of  a  regenerate  soul  that  has  been  already 
accepted  through  an  atonement.  Neither  is  it  to  be  reverently  and 
thankfully  partaken  of  by  the  offerer,  because  it  is  a  symbol  of  expia- 


LEVITICUS  IV.  8-12.  (37 

whole  bullock  shall  he  carry  forth  without  the  camp  unto  a 
clean  place  at  the  pouring  out  of  the  ashes,  and  burn  it  on 
the  wood  with  fire  ;  at  the  pouring  out  of  the  ashes  it  shall 
be  burned. 


tion,  and  not  of  fellowship.  Yet  the  whole  belongs  to  the  Lord,  and 
is  most  holy,  as  everything  that  expiates  must  in  itself  be.  Shall  he 
carry  forth.  The  party  for  whom  the  sacrifice  is  made  is  to  carry  it 
forth,  or  cause  it  to  be  carried  forth.  Without  the  camp.  While  in 
itself  most  holy,  it  is  as  the  bearer  of  sin  accursed,  and  therefore  is 
carried  out  of  the  holy  precincts.  Unto  a  clean  place.  The  residue 
of  the  victim  being  most  holy  is  to  be  deposited  in  a  place  free  from 
defilement  and  convenient  for  its  destruction  by  fire.  Such  is  the 
place  of  the  ashes  which  have  been  taken  from  the  altar  of  propitia- 
tion. And  hum  ^-  it.  This  is  the  completion  of  the  death  which  is 
the  penalty  of  sin.  The  word  "  burn "  here  is  different  from  that 
which  is  used  to  denote  turning  into  odor  or  perfume  on  the  altar. 
It  signifies  merely  to  destroy  by  fire ;  whereas  the  other  means  to 
incend  or  consume  as  incense.  The  former  is  the  burning  of  wrath ; 
the  latter  the  burning  of  complacence.  Hence  this  act  is  the  deepen- 
ing and  perpetuating  of  that  penal  death,  which  is  otherwise  simply 
expressed  by  the  slaughter  of  the  victim.  Extrusion  from  the  holy 
ground  and  destruction  in  the  place  of  ashes  lend  an  awful  emphasis 
to  that  second  death  which  follows  the  sin  that  knows  no  penitence. 
There  is  a  significance  in  the  sin  of  the  high-priest,  or  of  the  whole 
congregation,  which  renders  this  exhibition  of  the  penal  consequence 
of  sin  peculiarly  necessary.  By  the  sin  of  the  high-priest  the  pro- 
pitiation fails  in  its  primary  condition,  that  of  the  perfection  of  the 
mediator ;  and  so  all  is  lost  for  the  whole  church.  Hence  the  extent 
of  the  expiation  for  his  sin  is  set  forth  in  the  most  distinct  and  solemn 
form  ;  and  its  perpetuity  is  incidentally  intimated. 

This  completes  the  account  of  the  sin-sacrifice,  the  main  burden  of 
which  is  the  expiation  of  sin  by  the  death  of  an  adequate  substitute. 
The  blood  is  applied  to  all  the  three  altars  which  appear  in  the  sanc- 
tuary in  the  most  distinct  and  formal  manner.  The  fat,  indeed,  is 
consumed   on  the  altar   of  burnt-sacrifice,  because   propitiation  can 


68  THE  SIN-SACRIPICE. 

13.  And  if  the  whole  assembly  of  Israel  err,  and  the  thing 
be  hid  from  the  eyes  of  the  congregation,  and  they  have  done 
somewhat  against  any  of  the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  as 

never  in  practice  be  separated  from  expiation.  But  after  all,  the 
whole  carcass  of  the  bullock  is  burned,  not  incensed  or  turned  into  a 
sweet  smell  on  the  altar,  but  consumed  by  fire  in  the  place  of  ashes,  in 
token  of  the  utter  destruction  which  sin  brings  on  its  subject. 

13-21.  The  sin-sacrifice  for  the  congregation.  13.  The  whole  assem- 
bly}^ In  the  original  there  are  three  words,  not  clearly  distinguished 
in  the  English  Version,  which  we  may  render  assembly,  congregation, 
and  meeting.  The  kdah,  or  assembly,  was  a  regularly-appointed  and 
well-defined  body  of  men.  The  smallest  number  that  constituted  an 
assembly  among  the  Jews  was  ten  heads  of  families.  The  kdah  also 
denoted  the  representation  of  the  people  in  lawful  convention,  con- 
sisting of  the  princes  of  tribes,  heads  of  clans  or  houses,  the  elders, 
the  judges,  and  the  shoterim,  or  oflicers,  as  they  are  called  in  the 
English  Version.  This  was  the  public  council,  the  members  of  which 
seem  to  have  been  the  called  of  the  assembly  mentioned  in  Num.  i.  1 6  ; 
xvi.  2.  The  assembly,  or  largest  kdak,  consisted  of  the  men  of  twenty 
years  and  upward,  who  were  called  the  numbered  of  the  assembly 
(Ex.  xxxviii.  25).  The  cahal,  or  congregation  was  simply  a  multitude 
or  a  nation  assembled  or  incorporated  with  common  rights.  "With  the 
definite  article  it  usually  denotes  the  whole  body  of  the  people.  The 
moed,  or  meeting,  was  a  set  time  of  meeting,  or  a  stated  festival  or 
convention  held  at  such  a  time.  It  is  the  word  constantly  used  in  the 
phrase  which  has  been  rendered  tent  of  meeting.  It  is  obvious  that 
the  kdah,  or  regularly  constituted  assembly,  is  the  only  body  whose 
act  could  bring  responsibility  and  guilt  on  the  whole  congregation. 
The  act  of  an  individual,  however,  had  the  same  effect  (Josh.  vii.). 
Err,  commit  a  sin  through  inadvertence.  Sinning  with  a  high  hand, 
or  being  still  in  a  state  of  estrangement  from  God,  requires  other 
handling.  The  olah,  or  burnt-sacrifice,  is  the  way  by  which  a  penitent 
sinner  is  reconciled  to  God.  Hid  from  the  eyes  of  the  congregation, 
which  is  different  from  the  assembly,  whether  this  be  the  council  or 
the  legally  constituted  convention  of  the  nation.     The  cahal  includea 


LEVITICUS  IV.  13-20.  69 

to  what  should  not  be  done,  and  are  guilty,  14.  And  the  sin 
in  which  they  have  sinned  be  known,  then  the  congregation 
shall  ofifer  a  bullock  of  the  herd  for  a  sin-sacrifice,  and  bring 
it  before  the  tent  of  meeting.  15.  And  the  elders  of  the 
assembly  shall  lay  their  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  bullock 
before  the  Lord  ;  and  one  shall  slay  the  bullock  before  the 
the  Lom).  16.  And  the  anointed  priest  shall  bring  of  the 
bullock's  blood  to  the  tent  of  meeting.  17.  And  the  priest 
shall  dip  his  finger  in  the  blood,  and  spatter  seven  times  before 
the  Lord  the  face  of  the  veil.  18.  And  he  shall  put  of  the 
blood  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar,  which  is  before  tbe  Lord, 
that  is  in  the  tent  of  meeting  :  and  all  the  blood  he  shall 
pour  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  burnt-sacrifice,  which  is  at 
the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  19.  And  all  its  fat  he  shall 
lift  from  it,  and  burn  upon  the  altar.     20.  And  he  shall  do 

the  women  and  children  and  old  men.  And  are  giiiltyP  It  is  evident 
from  this  that  the  word  rendered  guilt  denotes  not  a  distinct  class  of 
offences  from  sin,  but  mereh^  a  diiFerent  aspect  of  the  same  offence. 
For  here  the  people  who  have  sinned  are  said  to  be  guilty  in  regard 
to  the  self-same  act.  Hence  the  question  is  not  what  kind  of  trans- 
gression is  a  sin  and  what  kind  is  a  trespass,  but  in  a  given  offence 
what  is  the  sin  and  what  the  trespass.  Now  in  every  transgression 
there  are  two  things,  and  no  more :  a  wrong  done,  and  a  right  undone. 
The  wrong  done  is  the  sin  which  demands  punishment ;  the  right 
neglected  is  the  trespass  which  calls  for  redress      Hence  it  is  plain,  as 

the  text  states,  that  he  who  sins  is  guilty.     1 4.  A7id  the  sin be 

known,  that  is,  when  it  becomes  known.  Tlie  congregation  shall  offer, 
by  their  representatives.  15.  The  elders.  These  are  the  primeval 
representatives  of  the  people  (Gen.  1.  7  ;  Ex.  iii.  IG;  xii.  21).  And 
one  shall  slay.  The  original  is  indefinite.  One  of  the  elders  by  him- 
self or  his  minister  performs  this  part  on  behalf  of  the  congregation. 
16,  17.  The  priest  is  different  from  the  anointed  priest.  Both  take 
part  in  this  solemn  rite.  18,  19.  The  process  is  here  precisely  the 
same  as  in  vs.  7-10  of  the  foregoing  paragraph.     20.  And  he  shall  do^ 


70  THE  SIN-SACRIFICE. 

to  the  bullock  as  was  done  to  the  bullock  of  the  sin-sacrifice, 
so  shall  he  do  to  it :  and  the  priest  shall  atone  for  them,  and 
it  shall  be  forgiven  them.  21.  And  he  shall  carry  forth  the 
bullock  without  the  camp,  and  burn  it  as  the  first  bullock 
was  burned :  this  is  the  sin-sacrifice  of  the  congregation.    *[[ 

22.  When  a  prince  sinneth  and  doeth  aught  against  any 
of  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  his  God,  as  to  what  should 
not  be  done,  in  error,  and  is  guilty.  23.  If  his  sin  wherein 
he  hath  sinned,  be  known  to  him,  then  he  shall  bring  his 


the  officiating  party  shall  proceed  as  with  the  former  bullock  in  all 
that  has  been  briefly  prescribed  concerning  this.  The  priest  shall 
atone  for  them.  To  atone  is  to  propitiate  in  the  full  sense,  and  so  it 
is  done  here,  though  the  expiation  has  the  chief  place.  It  shall  he 
forgiven.  Forgiveness  is  remission  of  the  penalty  of  sin,  the  negative 
part  of  justification.  This  corresponds  with  the  end  of  the  sin-sacri- 
fice, which  is  to  expiate  for  sin.  It  is  the  part  of  the  mediator  to 
atone ;  it  belongs  to  the  Being  who  has  been  offended  to  forgive. 
Proj)itiation  does  not  preclude  the  necessity  of  forgiveness,  but  only 
provides  for  the  lawfulness  of  it.  The  unconquerable  spirit  of  true 
forgiveness  displays  itself  in  providing  and  in  accepting  the  ransom. 
The  counterpart  of  forgiveness  is  acceptance,  which  is  prominent  in 
the  burnt-sacrifice  (i.  3,  4).  2\.  He  shall  carry.  The  offerer  shall 
do  so  himself  or  by  his  agent.  The  offerer  is  here  the  congrega- 
tion, who  must  of  necessity  act  by  their  representative.  And  burn  it. 
The  sin  of  the  whole  congregation  annuls  the  covenant,  and  forfeits 
its  benefits  on  the  part  of  the  whole  community.  Hence  it  has  the 
same  effect  as  that  of  the  priest ;  and  this  result  is  exhibited  in  the 
burning  of  the  whole  carcass  of  the  substitute  in  the  place  of  ashe 
This  paragraph  thus  confirms  and  illustrates  the  preceding  one. 

22-26.  The  sin-sacrifice  for  the  prince.  22.  Aprince.  The  head  of  a 
tribe,  clan,  or  family  (Num.  iii.  24).  23.  Wherein  he  hath  sinned. 
This  is  a  mere  variation  for  "which  he  hath  done"  (vs.  28).  Be  known 
eventually,  that  is,  become  known  to  him.  A  kid  of  the  goats.  The 
kind  of  offering  is  suited  to  the  rank  of  the  individual.     Upon  the  horns 


LEVITICUS  IV.  25-27.  71 

ofiferiiig  a  kid  of  the  goats,  a  perfect  male  ;  24.  Aud  he  shall 
lay  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  the  goat,  and  slay  it  in  the 
place  where  the  burnt-sacrifice  is  slain  before  the  Lord.  25. 
And  the  priest  shall  take  of  the  blood  with  his  finger,  and 
put  it  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  burnt-sacrifice  ;  and  shall 
povr  out  its  blood  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  burnt-sacrifice. 
26.  And  all  its  fat  he  shall  burn  upon  the  altar,  as  the  fat 
of  the  sacrifice  of  peace :  and  the  priest  shall  atone  for  him 
from  his  sin,  aud  it  shall  be  forgiven  him.  ^ 

27.  And  if  any  soul  of  the  people  of  the  land  sin  in  error, 
by  doing  aught  against  the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  as  to 
what  should  not  be  done,  and  be  guilty ;  28.  If  his  sin  which 

of  the  altar  of  hurnt-sacrifice.  In  the  former  instances  the  blood  was 
spattered  on  the  veil,  and  then  applied  to  the  horns  of  the  altar  of 
incense.  By  this  it  was  intimated  that  the  sacrifice  was  made  on 
behalf  of  one  already  accepted  through  the  burnt-sacrifice  of  propitia- 
tion. The  same  is  now  indicated  by  applying  the  blood,  not  to  the 
sides,  where  the  blood  of  the  burnt-sacrifice  was  sprinkled,  but  to  the 
horns  of  the  altar,  which  were  nearer  heaven.  Hence  it  is  manifest 
that  the  application  of  the  blood  means  the  same  thing  to  whatever 
altar  it  is  applied.  26.  The  flesh  of  the  victim  is  not  directed  to 
be  carried  out  as  before,  but,  as  we  learn  afterward  (vi.  1*J),  is 
to  be  eaten  by  the  ofiiciating  priest  in  the  holy  place.  This  difier- 
ence  arises,  no  doubt,  from  the  fact  that  in  the  case  of  the  priest  or 
the  congregation  inadvertently  sinning  the  covenant  is  virtually  made 
void  for  the  whole  community  of  the  faithful,  whereas  the  inadvertent 
sin  of  the  individual  only  affects  himself,  and  leaves  the  covenant  in 
full  force  in  regard  to  all  others.  The  flesh  in  this  case  goes  with  the 
fat  to  make  the  propitiation ;  the  fat  by  being  consumed  on  the  altar, 
the  flesh  by  being  eaten  by  the  priest  in  the  holy  place.  Atone  for 
him  from  his  sin.  This  is  a  pregnant  expression,  denoting  to  make 
atonement  for  him  and  deliver  him  from  the  penal  effects  of  his  sin. 
Forgiveness  follows  as  before. 

27-35.  The  sin-sacrifice  for  one  of  the  people.     27.  Any  soul.     Au 


72  THE  SIN-SACRIFICE. 

he  hath  done  be  known  to  him,  then  he  shall  bring  his  offer- 
ing a  kid  of  the  goats,  a  perfect  female,  for  his  sin  which  he 
hath  done.  29.  And  he  shall  lay  his  hand  upon  the  head 
of  the  sin-sacrifice,  and  slay  the  sin-sacrifice  in  the  place  of 
the  burnt  sacrifice.  30.  And  the  priest  shall  take  of  its  blood 
with  his  finger,  and  put  it  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  of 
burnt-sacrifice ;  and  pour  out  all  its  blood  at  the  foot  of  the 
altar.  31.  And  all  its  fat  he  shall  take  away,  as  the  fat  is 
taken  away  from  the  sacrifice  of  peace  ;  and  the  priest  shall 
burn  it  upon  the  altar  for  a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord  ;  and 
the  priest  shall  atone  for  him,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him.  ^ 
32.  And  if  he  bring  a  lamb  as  his  offering  for  sin,  he  shall 
bring  it  a  perfect  female.  33.  And  he  shall  lay  his  hand 
upon  the  head  of  the  sin-sacrifice,  and  slay  it  for  a  sin-sacrifice 
in  the  place  where  the  burnt-sacrifice  is  slain.  34.  And  the 
priest  shall  take  of  the  blood  of  the  sin-sacrifice  with  his  finger, 
and  put  it  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  burnt-sacrifice,  and 
pour  out  all  its  blood  at  the  foot  of  the  altar.  35.  And  all 
its  fat  he  shall  take  away,  as  the  fat  of  the  lamb  is  taken 
away  from  the  sacrifice  of  peace ;  and  the  priest  shall  burn 


individual  of  the  people.  28.  A  perfect  female.  The  distinction 
between  the  sacrifice  for  the  prince  and  that  for  one  of  the  people  is 
merely  in  the  gender  of  the  victim.  29-31.  The  mode  of  sacrifice  is 
precisely  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  a  prince.  The  words  "  for  a  sweet 
smell "  are  inserted  here  in  reference  to  the  burning  of  the  fat  on  the 
altar,  and  are,  no  doubt,  to  be  understood  in  all  the  previous  cases. 

32-35.  A  lamb.  This  is  an  alternation  allowed  for  the  kid.  The 
mode  is  unaltered.  35.  Upon  the  fire-offerings.  The  morning  sac- 
rifice is  a  burnt-sacrifice  and  a  fire-offering;  and  others  may  have 
been  presented  after  it  and  before  the  present  one.  But  the  expres- 
sion is  significant  for  the  place  of  the  sin-sacrifice,  which  is  for  the 
inadvertent  sin  of  the  believer  in  God  after  he  has  been  reconciled  by 


LEVITICUS  IV.  35.  73 

them  on  the  altar  upon  the  fire-offerings  of  the  Lord  :  and 
the  priest  shall  atone  for  him  Ibr  his  sin  that  he  hath  done, 
and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him.  ^ 

the  burnt-sacrifice  of  propitiation.  Atonement  and  forgiveness  follow 
as  usual. 

NOTES. 

2.  1)1  error,  hsads ,  in  Sept.  aKoucricos,  involuntarily.  Command- 
ment, >i':iT3 ,  when  used  in  a  strict  sense,  a  moral  pi-ecept.  Charge, 
r'yy^-o,  a  function  to  be  discharged  by  an  official.  Statute,  ph,  a 
positive  enactment,  including  any  precept  of  civil  or  ecclesiastical  law. 
Judgment,  liQda ,  a  judicial  decision  or  sentence  having  the  force  of 
common  law. 

3.  Anointed,  n'^d'a  ;  hence  Messiah.  Guilt,  rirdN  ,  indebtedness  or 
liability  for  a  righteousness  which  should  have  been,  but  has  not  been, 
rendered,  either  by  the  party  guilty  or  by  the  substitute ;  r.  be  waste. 
Sin-sacrijjce,  TNljn,  missing  the  mark,  swerving  from  the  line  of  rec- 
titude, sin,  and  then  sin-sacrifice. 

6.  Spatter,  Mn ,  different  from  p'nj ,  sprinlle.  The  latter  denotes 
a  more  plentiful  diffusion,  as  it  refers  to  the  whole  of  the  blood  when 
it  was  applied  to  the  sides  of  the  altar  of  burnt-sacritice.  The  former 
refers  only  to  the  few  drops  which  fall  from  the  shaken  finger  on  the 
veil  or  the  mercy-seat. 

12.  Burn,  Ti'^b,  used  of  the  burning  of  towns,  houses,  corpses,  bricks, 
lime,  and  the  like.  We  have  not  a  word  in  English  to  distinguish 
•Tiopri,  turn  into  perfwne,  from  ordinary  burning.  Incend  is  too 
unfamiliar. 

13.  Assembly,  nX',  a  stated  and  regularly  summoned  meeting,  con- 
sisting of  a  definite  number  of  members  when  fully  convened.  Con- 
gregation, ^np ,  a  nation  or  indefinite  body,  of  which  the  assembly  is 
some  legal  convention  greater  or  smaller.  Meeting,  ^>i^,  appoint- 
ment, time  or  place  of  appointed  meeting,  meeting.  Be  guilty,  cirx , 
become  a  moral  waste,  be  a  debtor  for  the  righteousness  which  should 
have  been,  but  was  not  done ;  in  this  sense,  be  guilty.  Tresfass, 
trrs,  the  defect  or  want  of  righteousness  toward  another,  which  is 
therefore  a  trespass  against  him;  the  liability  for  tlie  positive  right- 
eousness which  has  been  left  undone  ;  primarily  in  this  sense,  guilt. 

10 


Y4  THE  TRESPASS-OFFERING. 


V.    THE  TRESPASS-OFFERING. 

We  have  already  seen  that  in  propitiation  two  distinct  things  are 
included,  expiation  and  satisfaction.     In  expiation  the  mediator  bears 
the  penalty  of  sin,  and  the  sinner  who  trusts  in  his  mediation  is  freed 
from  it,  or  pardoned.     In  satisfaction,  strictly  so  called,  the  mediator 
renders  a  perfect  obedience  to  the  law,  and  the  penitent  sinner  who 
relies  on  his  good  offices  is  justified  or  accepted  and  treated  as  right- 
eous, as  well  as  pardoned.      The  sin-sacrifice  represents  chiefly  the 
expiation,  as  we  have   seen ;    the  trespass-offering  chiefly  the  satis- 
faction, as  we  shall  see.     The  former  has  been  already  explained ;  the 
latter  is  unfolded  in  the  present  chapter.     Those  who  hold  that  sin  is 
one  kind  of  offence  and  trespass  another  are  in  a  difficulty  about  the 
first  part  of  this  chapter  (1-13).     Some  hold  that  the  sin-sacrifice  is 
continued  in  this  passage,  and  the  trespass-offering  treated  of  in  the 
remainder ;  others  maintain  that  the  trespass-offering  forms  the  subject 
of  the  whole  chapter.     It  is  quite  true  that  the  first  thirteen  verses 
are  a  continuation  of  the  communication  begun  in  chap.  iv.     But  when 
we  understand  that  every  moral  offence  is  both  a  sin  and  a  trespass, 
we  come  to  perceive  that  this  chapter  refers  chiefly  to  the  trespass, 
while  the  former  dwells  upon  the  sin,  involved  in  every  violation  of 
morality.    It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  previous  chapter  refers  through- 
out to  a  deviation  from  "the   commandment  of   the  Lord,"  to  acts 
"  which   should  not  be   done,"  because  they  were  contrary  to  the 
Divine  will.     These,  then,  are  offences  against  the  whole  moral  law, 
as  commanded  by  God.    On  the  other  hand,  in  the  first  part  of  the  fifth 
chapter   the   offences  are   against   the    civil  and  ceremonial  law,  or 
trespasses  arising  between  neighbors.     This  is  a  sufficient  warrant  for 
separating  this  portion,  and  assigning  it  to  a  new  chapter.     At  the 
same  time  it  unfolds  to  us  the  ground  for  calling  the  offerings  pre- 
scribed in  this  passage  by  the  generic  name  of  trespass-offerings  (vs.  6). 
For  in  an  offence  against  God  the  sin  is   the  chief  thing,  and  the 
trespass    is    subordinate    in   importance.     The    penalty,  therefore,  is 
prominent,  and  the  sin-sacrifice,  which  alludes  mainly  to  expiation, 
is  the  first  thing  needful.    And  hence  the  preceding  chapter  necessarily 
treats  of  the  sin-offering.     But  in  an  offence  directly  involving  my 
neighbor  the  trespass  is  the  chief  thing,  and   the  sin  falls  into  the 


LEVITICUS  V.  1.  75 

Y.  1.  And  "when  a  soul  sins  and  hears  the  voice  of  an  oatli 
and  is  a  witness,  whether  he  have  seen  or  known  of  it,  if  he  tell 

shade.  The  trespass  cries  for  redress,  and  accordingly  the  trespass- 
offering  points  primarily  to  the  satisfaction  which  is  included  in  pro- 
pitiation. The  first  paragraph,  then,  of  this  chapter  referring  to 
transgressions  of  man  against  man  or  by  man,  with  no  less  propriety 
treats  of  the  trespass-offering.  The  examination  of  the  whole  chapter 
will  be  an  instructive  illustration  of  these  distinctions. 

The  former  chapter  treated  of  particular  acts  of  inadvertent  sin, 
distinguishing  the  rank  of  the  transgressor  and  varying  the  regulations 
accordingly.  This,  chapter  specifies  certain  classes  of  offences  for 
which  a  special  mode  of  atonement  is  prescribed.  It  contains  three 
parts,  the  remainder  of  one  divine  communication  (1-13),  and  the 
whole  of  two  others.  In  the  English  Version  the  second  of  these 
forms  the  beginning  of  chap,  vi.,  after  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.,  which  is 
an  illogical  arrangement. 

1-13.  Four  forms  of  sin  for  which  a  special  mode  of  atonement  is 
prescribed.  1.  First  case:  neglecting  to  give  evidence  when  required. 
And  token  a  soul  sins.  We  must  observe  that  throughout  this  chapter, 
as  throughout  the  former,  the  moral  offence  is  invariably  called  a  sin, 
(vs.  5,  15,  17,  21).  Hears  the  voice  of  an  oath,  hears  the  voice  of 
adjuration,  of  the  judge  adjuring  him.  In  some  cases  the  witness  did 
not  himself  pronounce  the  form  of  oath,  but  heard  it  addressed  to  him 
by  the  judge  (1  Kings  xxii.  IG;  Matt.  xxvi.  63).  Or  known  of  it. 
Witnesses  are  here  divided  into  two  classes,  those  who  have  seen  the 
occurrence  in  question,  and  those  who  have  become  aware  of  it  in 
some  other  way.  If  he  tell  it  not.  The  adjured,  when  questioned,  is 
bound  to  give  evidence  in  a  case  of  law.  Bear  his  iniquity.^  Iniquity, 
that  is,  deviation  from  equity,  is  a  very  suitable  rendering  for  the 
original  word.  To  bear  iniquity  is  to  take  its  legal  consequences. 
The  transgressor  bears  his  own  iniquity  when  he  suffers  the  penalty 
of  it,  or  is  still  liable  to  suffer  it.  The  mediator  bears  the  iniquity  of 
another  when  he  takes  his  place  and  suffers  for  him.  The  party 
offended  bears  the  iniquity  of  the  other  when  he  accepts  the  satis- 
faction made  by  the  mediator,  or,  in  other  words,  takes  it  away 
from  the  actual  offender  and  lays  it  on  the  substitute  whom  he  has 


76  THE  TEE  SPAS  S-OFFEEING. 

it  not,  and  bear  his  iniquity,  2.  Or  if  a  soul  touch  anything 
unclean,  either  a  carcass  of  an  unclean  beast,  or  a  carcass  of 
unclean  cattle,  or  a  carcass  of  an  unclean  creeper,  and  it  be 
hidden  from  him,  and  he  be  unclean  and  guilty,  3.  Or  if  he 
touch  the  uncleanness  of  man,  according  to  all  his  uncleanness 
wherewith  he  is  defiled,  and  it  be  hid  from  him,  and  he  know 
of  it,  and  be  guilty,    4.  Or  if  a  soul  swear  to  utter  with  the 

provided.  In  this  last  case  it  is  usually  rendered  to  forgive,  though  it 
really  means  to  accept  an  atonement  for  the  offender. 

2.  The  second  case :  ceremonial  defilement.  Touch  anything  un- 
clean. This  is  a  general  phrase  which  may  apply  to  this  and  the 
following  verse.  The  uncleanness  here  spoken  of  is  ceremonial.  We 
know  that  "  there  is  noUiing  unclean  of  itself."  Ceremonial  unclean- 
ness, then,  is  typical  of  moral  defilement.  It  can  only  have  a  place  or 
a  meaning  in  a  world  where  sin  has  entered.  Three  kinds  of  unclean 
animals  are  here  specified,  wild  beasts,  cattle,  and  creepers.  They  are 
not  to  be  used  for  food.  They  are  described  in  Lev.  xi.  Even  the 
carcasses  of  those  animals  which  are  allowed  for  food  defile  (Lev. 
xi.  39).  And  it  he  hidden  from  him.  This  is  a  hint  that  all  such 
defiling  objects  are  to  be  carefully  avoided ;  and  if  this  be  done,  un- 
clean contact  can  only  happen  in  some  unexpected  and  unintentional 
way.  And  guilty.  The  mention  of  guilt,  which  runs  through  this 
chapter,  is  no  less  obvious  in  the  previous  one  (vs.  3,  13,  22,  27). 
Thus  the  terms  sin  and  guilt  or  trespass  are  common  to  both  chapters, 
and  to  all  the  voluntary  actions  specified  in  them.  This  of  itself  goes 
to  prove  that  sin  and  trespass  are  two  aspects  of  one  and  the  same 
offence. 

3.  Third  case:  this  is  defilement  by  contact  with  one  who  is  unclean. 
From  the  completeness  of  the  previous  verse  it  is  obvious  that  this  ia 
regarded  as  a  distinct  species  of  offence.  The  modes  of  human  defile- 
ment are  various.  A  living  body  affected  with  any  flux  or  issue,  or 
a  dead  body  communicates  defilement  (Lev.  xv. ;  Num.  xix.  11). 
The  putrid  matter  flowing  from  a  diseased  part,  or  the  dead  body  in 
which  putrefaction  sets  in  is  a  seat  of  corruption,  and  in  man  is  not 
only  a  type,  but  a  fruit,  of  moral  pollution. 


LEVITICUS  V.  2-6.  77 

lips  to  do  evil  or  to  do  good,  according  to  all  that  a  man  utters 
with  an  oath,  and  it  be  hid  from  him,  and  he  know  of  it,  and 
be  guilty  in  any  of  these,  5.  Then  it  shall  be,  when  he  is 
guilty  in  any  of  these,  that  he  shall  confess  that  he  hath  sinned 
in  it,  6.  And  he  shall  bring  his  trespass-oifering  unto  the 
Lord  for  his  sin  which  he  hath  done,  a  female  of  the  flock,  a 
lamb  or  a  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-sacrifice ;  and  the  priest 

4.  Fourth  case :  rash  swearing.  To  utter  with  the  lips,  to  speak 
rashly  in  the  hearing  of  men.  To  do  evil  or  to  do  good,  a  general 
phrase  to  denote  a  certain  act  of  any  kind  whatever  (Num.  xxiv.  13). 
This  refers  to  swearing  improperly  or  falsely  regarding  the  act  in 
question,  whether  past  or  future.  And  it  be  hid  from  him  ;  having 
forgotten  or  neglected  it.  And  he  know  of  it,  and  some  person  or  cir- 
cumstance bring  it  to  his  knowledge.  The  series  of  cases  has  now 
been  stated. 

5-13.  The  course  to  be  pursued  in  these  cases.  When  he  is  guilty 
in  any  of  these.  The  epithet  guilty  is  here  applied  to  all  the  four 
classes  of  offenders,  and  hence  we  find  that  bearing  his  iniquity  (vs.  1) 
and  being  guilty  are  equivalent  phrases.  He  shall  confess.  The  con- 
duct of  the  offerer  in  making  confession  and  presenting  his  offering  is 
the  outward  indication  of  his  state  of  mind,  of  his  inward  penitence, 
trust  in  God,  affection,  and  obedience.  But  they  make  no  atonement 
for  his  sin.  This  is  the  effect  of  the  trespass-offering.  6.  Bring  his 
trespass-offering.^  This  is  the  natural  rendering.  It  presents  a  diffi- 
culty only  to  those  who  hold  that  sin  and  trespass  must  be  different 
offences.  The  words  will  not  admit  of  any  other  rendering.  "We 
cannot  say,  "  bring  his  trespass  or  his  guilt."  For  a  sin-sacrifice.  If 
we  were  to  insist  that  sin  and  trespass  denoted  distinct  offences,  there 
would  appear  a  contradiction  here.  But  when  we  find  sin  and  trespass 
or  guilt  uniformly  ascribed  to  one  and  the  same  act  through  these  two 
chapters,  we  learn  simply  from  this  passage  that  in  these  cases  the 
trespass-offering  and  the  sin-sacrifice  are  united  in  the  same  victim, 
or  that  the  one  offering  serves  for  both.  Nothing  can  more  clearly 
show,  in  fact,  that  the  same  offence  is  in  one  aspect  a  sin  and  in 
another  a  trespass.     Atone  for  him  from  his  sin;  as  in  iv.  26.     In 


78  THE  TRESPASS-OFFERING 

shall  atone  for  him  from  his  sin.  7.  And  if  his  hand  reach 
not  to  enough  for  a  lamb,  then  shall  he  bring  as  his  trespass- 
offering,  for  what  he  hatli  sinned,  two  doves  or  two  pigeons 
unto  the  Lord,  one  for  a  sin-sacrifice,  and  one  for  a  burnt>- 
sacrifice.  8.  And  he  shall  bring  them  unto  the  priest,  and  he 
shall  offer  that  which  is  for  the  sin-sacrifice  first,  and  pinch 
off  its  head  from  its  neck  and  not  divide  it.  9.  And  he  shall 
spatter  of  the  blood  of  the  sin-sacrifice  upon  the  wall  of  the 
altar,  and  the  rest  of  the  blood  shall  be  squeezed  out  at  the 
foot  of  the  altar:  it  is  a  sin-sacrifice.  10.  And  the  second  he 
shall  make  a  burnt-sacrifice  according  to  the  manner;  and 
the  priest  shall  atone  for  him  for  his  sin  which  he  hath  done, 
and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him.  § 

11.  And  if  his  hand  reach  not  to  two  doves  or  two  pigeons, 
then  he  shall  bring  as  his  offering  for  what  he  hath  sinned  the 
tenth  of  an  ephah  of  flour  for  a  sin-sacrifice :  he  shall  not  add 


this  case  the  sacrifice  including  in  itself  expressly  the  sin  and  the 
trespass-offering  makes  a  complete  atonement.  7.  His  trespass-offer- 
ing. This  is  consistent  with  the  statement  in  the  previous  verse. 
For  what  he  hath  sinned.  .The  original  might  be  rendered  simply 
"  which  he  hath  sinned,"  and  so  we  might  suppose  that  asham  here 
meant  simply  his  trespass.  But  precisely  the  same  phrase  is  found 
after  "  his  offering  "  in  vs.  11,  where  we  must  render  as  we  have  done 
here.  Besides  we  cannot  use  the  phrase  "  bring  his  trespass  "  here, 
any  more  than  in  the  sixth  verse.  Two  doves.  Here  the  twofold 
import  of  the  sacrifice  is  intimated  by  the  two  victims  ;  the  one  for  a 
sin-sacrifice,  which  properly  expiates,  the  other  for  a  burnt-sacrifice, 
which  propitiates,  and  therein  makes  satisfaction.  8,  9.  Spatter  of  the 
blood.  This  makes  a  difference,  as  before  (iv.  6),  between  the  sin  and 
the  burnt-sacrifice.  10.  According  to  the  manner,  the  rule  already 
prescribed  (Lev.  i.). 

11-13.  A  third  alternation.    For  what  he  hath  sinned.    See  on  vs.  7. 
Flour  for  a  sin-sacrifice.     On  the  principle  that  without  shedding  of 


LEVITICUS  V.  11-13.  79 

oil  to  it  nor  put  frankincense  upon  it ;  for  it  is  a  sin-sacrifice. 

12.  And  he  shall  bring  it  to  the  priest,  and  the  priest  shall 
take  of  it  his  neaf-ful,  the  memorial  of  it,  and  burn  it  on  the 
altar  upon  the  fire-offerings  of  the  Lord  :  it  is  a  sin-sacrifice. 

13.  And  the  priest  shall  atone  for  him  for  his  sin  which  he 
hath  done  in  any  of  these,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him :  and 
it  shall  belong  to  the  priest  as  the  oblation. 

blood  there  is  no  remission,  this  would  be  entirely  unintelligible,  did 
we  not  know  that  the  atonement  had  been  already  made  and  accepted 
for  all  such  inadvertent  offenders  by  the  burnt-sacrifice,  which  repre- 
sented the  great  and  only  propitiation  for  the  sinner  who  through 
it  returns  to  God.  This  burnt-sacrifice  had  been  offered  either  by 
the  penitent  himself  or  by  his  parent  or  people  on  his  behalf.  Its 
virtue  was  all-sufficient,  both  for  the  sinful  state  antecedent  to  pro- 
pitiation, and  the  inadvertent  sins  that  might  afterwards  be  committed. 
The  sin-sacrifice  merely  represented  a  fresh  appeal  to  the  one  only 
atonement,  symbolized  no  less  by  this  than  by  the  burnt-sacrifice. 
But  besides,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  this  particular  sin-sacrifice 
comes  under  the  head  of  a  trespass-offering  (vs.  6),  which  presupposes 
expiation  by  blood  iudeed,  but  expresses  positive  satisfaction  or  pro- 
pitiation by  a  fire-offering  on  the  brazen  altar.  The  flour  sufl&ces  for 
this  purpose,  when  the  atonement  has  gone  before.  Not  add  oil  to  it 
nor  put  frankincense  upon  it.  Inasmuch  as  this  is  a  trespass-offering 
(vs.  6),  it  is  propitiatory  in  its  nature,  and  may  even  be  expressed  by 
flour,  part  of  which  is  burned  as  a  fire-offering  unto  the  Lord.  But 
as  it  is  in  another  respect  a  sin-sacrifice,  and  in  this  respect  expiatory, 
the  oil  and  the  frankincense  are  excluded.  The  bare  flour  represents 
life,  and  therefore  deliverance  from  death,  which  is  the  proper  effect  of 
the  expiation.  It  is  the  basis  of  the  oblation,  which  presupposes  the 
burnt-sacrifice  m.  which  expiation  is  made.  For  it  is  a  sin-sacrijice. 
Oil  expresses  sanctification  and  frankincense  intercession,  which  tran- 
scend all  that  is  implied  in  the  mere  blood  of  expiation.  12.  The 
priest  shall  take  with  his  own  hand,  as  in  the  animal  sacrifice  he 
receives  the  blood  in  a  sacrificial  bowl.  Upon  the  jire-offerings,  as  in 
IV.  35.     13.  In,  any  of  these,  literally  from  any  of  these,  as  in  iv.  26. 


80  THE  TEESPASS-OFFERING. 

14.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  15.  If  a  soul 
do  wrong  and  sin  in  error  in  the  holy  things  of  the  Lord,  then 
he  shall  bring  as  his  trespass-offering  unto  the  Lord  a  perfect 
ram  of  the  flock  with  thy  valuation  in  silver  shekels  after  the 

It  shall  belong.     The  flour,  after  the  memorial  has  been  burned  on  the 
altar,  shall  be  the  priest's,  as  the  oblation  (ch.  ii.). 

14-19.  The  trespass-offei'ing  for  transgressions  in  the  holy  things 
of  the  Lord,  or  directly  against  his  moral  law.  This  is  the  first 
distinct  communication  concerning  trespass-offerings.  It  contains,  as 
we  see,  two  different  cases.  The  first  regards  any  wrong-doing  in  the 
holy  things  of  the  Lord.  \b.  If  a  soul  do  wrong,  defraud  or  in  any 
way  injure.  The  reference  now  is  specially  to  the  damage  which  has 
been  done  to  the  right  or  property  of  another.  And  sin.  Every  kind 
of  wrong  is  at  the  same  time  a  sin.  In  error.  This  qualification  is 
never  to  be  forgotten.  The  soul  that  has  repented  and  been  recon- 
ciled to  God  can  sin  only  in  error  or  inadvertence.  A  wilful  or 
deliberate  violation  of  the  command  of  God  marks  an  impenitent  and 
unreconciled  sinner.  The  lawgiver  is  careful  to  mark  the  distinction. 
In  the  holy  things  of  the  Lord}^  The  original  has  "  from  the  holy 
things,"  which  is  a  pregnant  construction  for,  "  in  taking  from  the  holy 
things  of  the  Lord."  This  refers  to  the  service  of  the  tabernacle,  the 
tithes,  or  any  other  requirement  of  the  worship  of  God.  A  ■perfect 
ram,  is  the  constant  trepass-offering,  without  respect  to  rank  or  means, 
to  intimate  that  the  recompense  should  always  be  an  exact  equivalent 
for  the  damage  done.  The  mode  of  dealing  with  the  ram  of  trespass 
is  the  same  as  that  with  the  peace-offering  (iii.  2-5),  as  we  learn  from 
vii.  2-5,  where  this  account  is  supplemented.  ^Vith  thy  valuation. 
This  cannot  with  any  propriety  be  referred  to  the  value  of  the  ram, 
which  it  is  simply  impossible  to  vary  in  proportion  to  the  damage 
done.  It  must  therefore  refer  to  a  distinct  accompanying  sum  of 
money,  at  which  Moses  or  the  officiating  priest  or  the  high-priest  is  to 
estimate  the  loss.  In  silver  shekels,  that  is,  in  current  coin  ;  silver,  the 
customary  medium  of  exchange,  having  acquired  the  meaning  of  coin 
or  money.  After  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary.  As  this  matter  re- 
garded the  sanctuary  it  is  natural  that  the  payment  should  be  made  in 


LEVITICUS  V.  15-17.  gj 

shekel  of  tlie  sanctuary,  for  a  trespass-offering.  16.  And  he 
shall  make  amends  for  the  sin  that  he  hath  done  in  the  holy 
thing,  and  shall  add  thereto  the  fifth  of  it,  and  give  it  unto 
the  priest ;  and  the  priest  shall  atone  for  him  with  the  ram 
of  trespass,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him.  ^ 

17.  And  if  a  soul  sin  and  do  aught  against  any  of  the  com- 
mandments of  the  Lord,  as  to  what  should  not  be  done,  and 

the  currency  of  the  sanctuary.  Some  suppose  that  the  heha  ^^  is  the 
conamon  shekel,  which  would  in  that  case  be  only  half  the  sacred 
shekel  (1  Kings  x.  17  ;  2  Chron.  ix.  16).  The  sacred  shekel  '^  would 
at  all  events  be  of  full  weight,  and  in  value  about  2s.  3d.  of  Eng- 
lish money,  or  half  an  American  dollar.  For  a  trespass-offering. 
Hence  we  perceive  that  an  equivalent  compensation  for  the  right  that 
had  been  infringed  is  the. fundamental  meaning  of  the  trespass-offering. 
16.  3Iake  amends,  make  good,  or  replace  that  which  had  been  lost  or 
taken  away  or  withheld.  The  idea  of  restitution  in  positive  value  or 
right  runs  through  the  whole  account  of  the  asham  or  trespass-offering. 
The  fifth  of  it.  This  serves  to  cover  all  losses  or  costs  contingent  on 
the  exchange  or  replacement.  The  same  addition  was  to  be  made 
when  a  firstling  or  any  part  of  the  tithe  in  kind  was  exchanged  for  a 
money  value  (Lev.  xxvii.).  The  tenth  is  the  customary  offering  in 
acknowledgment  of  the  supremacy  and  benignity  of  the  Most  High. 
In  the  case  of  compensation  or  exchange  for  that  which  belongs  to 
him,  two  tenths  or  one  fifth  is  the  usual  addition. 

17-19.  The  trespass-offering  in  the  case  of  a  direct  breach  of  the 
moral  law.  This  is  the  second  branch  of  the  present  communication. 
\1.  If  a  soul  sin.  On  comparison  it  is  manifest  that  this  is  precisely 
the  case  for  which  the  sin-sacrifice  is  provided  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter, namely,  doing  anything  against  any  of  the  commandments  of  the 
Lord,  as  to  what  should  not  be  done.  There  it  was  treated  as  a  sin 
or  wrong  done,  deserving  punishment ;  here  it  is  regarded  as  a  tres- 
pass or  right  left  undone,  demanding  amends.  The  penalty  and  the 
recompense  make  up  the  propitiation.  And  hence  we  often  find  the 
sin-sacrifice  and  the  trespass-offering  accompanying  each  other,  and 
presented  for  the  same  transgression.     The  trespass-offering,  there- 


82  THE  TRESPASS-OFFERING. 

know  it  not,  and  be  guilty  and  bear  his  iniquity;  18.  Then 
he  shall  ])ring  a  perfect  ram  of  the  flock,  with  thy  valuation 
for  a  trespass-offering  unto  the  priest ;  and  the  priest  shall 
atone  for  him  for  his  error  which  he  committed  and  knew  it 
not,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  him.  19.  It  is  a  trespass-offering: 
he  hath  indeed  trespassed  against  the  Lord.  *^ 

20.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  21.  If  a  soul 
sin  and  do  wrong  against  the  Lord,  and  lie  unto  his  neighbor 
in  a  trust  or  in  giving  of  the  hand  or  in  theft,  or  oppress  his 

fore,  now  prescribed  is  simply  that  which  is  to  be  offered  along  with 
the  sin-sacrifice  of  the  previous  chapter.  18.  With  tlry  valuation. 
This  refers  to  such  material  compensation  as  may  be  admissible  in  cer- 
tain breaches  of  the  moral  law.  It  would  be  vain  for  the  ti-ansgressor 
to  make  a  trespass-offering  if  he  were  not  prepared  to  make  all  the 
reparation  in  his  power  for  the  right  infringed.  For  his  error.  The 
offences  for  which  these  sacrifices  are  offered  are  invariably  acts  of 
inadvertence,  and  not  of  the  intentional  wilfulness  that  marks  an 
unregenerate  heart.  19.  He  hath  indeed  trespassed  against  the  Lord. 
The  valuation  and  material  compensation  following  upon  it  is  a  matter 
between  man  and  man ;  in  this  instance  referring  to  the  priests  of  the 
house  of  God  who  have  been  wronged.  The  transgressor  can  make 
no  proper  compensation  to  his  Creator  for  the  right  he  lias  infringed. 
Hence  we  need  the  trespass-offering,  which,  like  the  ram  caught  in 
the  thicket,  represents  the  righteousness  of  the  substitute  for  the 
transgressor,  by  which  the  law  that  has  been  violated  is  truly  magni- 
fied and  honored.  This  alone  ultimately  propitiates  and  earns  eternal 
life  for  the  penitent  who  returns,  laying  his  hand  on  the  trespass- 
offering. 

20-2 G.  The  trespass-offering  for  sins  against  the  Lord  that  are 
direct  offences  against  a  neighbor.  This  second  communication  on 
the  trespass-offering  refers  to  direct  breaches  of  the  second  table  of 
the  law.  It  bears,  therefore,  the  same  relation  to  the  former  com- 
munication which  the  first  paragraph  of  this  chapter  bears  to  the 
previous  chapter.  2\.  If  a  soul  sin  and  do  wrong -^  against  the  Lord. 
The  breach  of  equity  between  man  and  man  is  an  offence  against  God. 


LEVITICUS  V.  21-26.  83 

neighbor,  22.  Or  find  that  wliicli  was  lost  and  deny  it  and 
swear  to  a  lie,  in  aught  of  all  that  a  man  doeth  to  sin  therein, 
23.  And  it  be  that  he  sins  and  is  guilty,  then  he  shall  requite 
the  thing  which  he  stole,  or  the  oppression  that  he  wrought, 
or  the  trust  that  was  delivered  to  him,  or  the  lost  thing  that 
he  found,  24.  Or  all  that  about  which  he  had  sworn  to  a 
lie ;  and  he  shall  make  it  good  in  the  principal  of  it,  and  add 
to  it  a  fifth  of  it ;  to  him  to  whom  it  belongeth  shall  he  give 
it  in  the  day  of  his  trespass.  25.  And  he  shall  bring  his  tres- 
pass-offering unto  the  Lord,  a  perfect  ram  of  the  flock,  with 
thy  valuation  for  a  trespass-offering  unto  the  priest:  26.  And 


To  do  wrong  here  means  to  act  treacherously  or  deceitfully,  sin  always 
involving  a  lie  in  some  form.  This  corresponds  with  the  forms  of  sin 
afterwards  enumerated.  Fraud  in  a  trust  or  compact,  or  in  property, 
and  oppression  are  inclusive  of  most  wrong  done  to  a  neighbor. 
22.  Speaking  or  swearing  falsely  regarding  a  thing  found.  All  these 
result  from  strong  and  sudden  temptation  by  which  a  man  entering 
on  the  life  of  faith  in  God  and  allegiance  to  him  may  be  overcome  in 
a  moment  of  heedlessness.  23.  He  shall  requite,  or  make  good  by  an 
equivalent.  24.  Full  compensation,  that  is,  an  equivalent  with  a  fifth 
added  to  it,  is  to  be  made  for  the  wrongs  done  to  his  neighbor,  as  an 
essential  part  in  the  re-establishment  of  a  good  understanding  with 
his  Heavenly  Father.  To  him  to  whom  it  belongeth.  A  thorough  and 
genuine  integrity  is  the  only  satisfactory  criterion  of  a  new  heart  at 
peace  with  God.  In  the  day  of  his  trespass,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
having  failed  to  render  to  his  neighbor  any  part  of  his  right.  If  the 
day  is  to  be  taken  more  strictly,  it  must  refer  to  the  time  of  his  tres- 
pass having  become  known.  25,  26.  The  process  here  is  quite  the 
same  as  in  the  former  case  (vs.  18). 

In  these  five  chapters  we  have  the  ritual  of  the  various  sacrifices 
which  are  needful  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  a  godly  life  on  the  earth, 
in  the  period  antecedent  to  the  making  of  the  great  propitiation 
which  really  takes  away  sin.  The  burnt-sacrifice  represents  the  full 
propitiation  for  sin,  including  both  expiation  and  satisfaction  proper, 


84  THE  TRESPASS-OFFERING. 

the  priest  shall  atone  for  him  before  the  Lord,  and  it  shall 
be  forgiven  him,  for  aught  of  all  that  he  doeth  to  trespass 
therein.  25     ^  ^  ^ 

by  which  the  sinner,  coming  in  faith  and  penitence,  is  pardoned  and 
accepted  once  for  all.  This  has  to  be  offered  again  and  again,  as  it  is 
naerely  the  shadow  of  the  substance,  to  call  to  remembrance  the  one 
great  propitiatory  sacrifice  which  takes  away  sin  and  brings  in  ever- 
lasting righteousness.  Next  we  have  the  oblation,  which  serves  to 
accompany  and  complete  the  proper  sacrifice,  or  to  afford  expression 
on  suitable  occasions  for  that  gratitude  and  devotion  which  character- 
ize the  obedience  of  the  soul  that  has  once  been  ransomed  by  the  blood 
of  atonement.  This  offering  is  accepted  either  on  account  of  the 
proper  sacrifice  which  has  preceded,  or  of  the  perfect  righteousness 
of  the  all-prevalent  Intercessor.  The  sacrifice  of  peace  is  the  medium 
of  fellowship  with  the  God  of  mercy  and  truth  for  his  saints  who  have 
been  reconciled  by  the  sacrifice  of  propitiation.  As  the  old  man  still 
lingers  in  the  flesh,  betraying  the  penitent  soul  in  unguarded  moments 
into  sins  that  imply,  not  intentional  rebellion,  but  only  moral  imper- 
fection, the  sin-sacrifice  and  trespass-offerings  afford  special  means  of 
expiating  occasional  errors,  and  making  amends  for  the  rights  which 
have  been  infringed,  being,  in  fact,  the  symbols  of  the  special  applica- 
tion of  the  one  great  atoning  sacrifice  to  the  relief  of  the  conscience, 
when  distressed  with  these  dregs  of  a  fallen  nature.  The  lessons 
which  these  singular  arrangements  teach  will  be  obvious  to  the  atten- 
tive reader. 

NOTES. 

1,  Iniquity,  "jl'li*,  deviation  from  rectitude;  r.  n^?,  hend,  twist. 
Bear  iniquity,  liis  N03 . 

6.  Bring  his  trespass-offering,  iairx-PN  X'^nn . 

15.  From  the  holy  things  of,  "^^JIISTD.  Beka,  S.'|??,  a  dividend,  a 
half;  r.  cleave.     Shekel,  i^i?'^,  a  weight  of  about  220  grains. 

21.  Do  wrong,  ^?t),  act  covertly  or  treacherously. 


LEVITICUS  VI.  1,  2.  85 


VI.    LAWS  OF  THE  OFFERINGS. 

VI.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  Com- 
mand Aaron  and  his  sons,  saying,  This  is  the  law  of  the 
burnt-sacrifice :  that  is  the  burnt-sacrifice  upon  the  hearth  on 
the  altar  all  the  night  until  the  mornnig ;  and  the  fire  of  the 

The  two  remaining  chapters  on  the  offerings  are  occupied  with 
certain  regulations  to  be  observed  by  the  priests  in  the  ministrations 
of  the  akar.  They  chiefly  refer  to  the  use  of  the  flesh  that  is  not 
to  be  burned  on  the  altar,  and  other  details  not  before  settled.  These 
are  reserved  until  now,  that  the  form  and  character  of  each  offering 
might  stand  out  clearly  to  the  view,  and  not  be  confused  by  details, 
which,  however  essential  in  themselves,  do  not  enter  into  their  specific 
nature  as  offerings.  There  are  in  all  five  distinct  communications  in 
these  two  chapters,  of  which  two  and  a  part  of  the  third  are  contained 
in  this  chapter.  It  treats  of  the  law  or  rule  of  the  burnt-sacrifice 
1-6,  of  the  oblation  7-16,  and  of  the  sin-sacrifice  17-23. 

1-6.  The  law  of  the  burnt-sacrifice.  1.  The  Lord  spaJ:e.  This 
communication  is  made  to  Moses,  and  concerns  the  priests.  It  includes 
the  law  of  the  burnt-sacrifice  and  that  of  the  oblation  made  by  any  of 
the  people.  2.  Command.  Moses  is  the  lawgiver.  Aaron  and  Ms 
sons.  The  following  regulations  apply  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
priests  in  the  matter  of  these  offerings.  27ie  law.-  properly,  doctrine 
or  instruction.  Here  it  refers  to  the  mode  of  administration,  and  to 
the  duties  and  rights  of  the  priests.  The  burnt-sacrifice.  This  sacri- 
fice gave  name  to  the  altar  on  which  it  was  offered.  The  morning 
and  evening  sacrifices  come  under  this  description.  And  besides 
these,  others  were  continually  offered  by  individuals.  It  was,  more- 
over, the  sum  and  substance  of  all  other  sacrifices.  Hence  the  pro- 
priety of  calling  the  altar  of  sacrifice  by  this  name.  That  is.  The 
attention  is  here  drawn  to  the  evening  burnt-sacrifice,  as  the  one  at 
present  in  question.  Upon  the  hearth,^  the  grating  in  the  middle  of 
the  altar  where  the  fire  was  placed.  See  on  Ex.  xxvii.  4.  All  thi 
night.  This,  then,  is  the  evening  sacrifice,  which  is  to  burn  all  the 
night  until  the  morning.     The  account  of  the  process  begins  with  the 


86  LAWS  OF  THE   OFFERINGS. 

altar  shall  burn  on  it.  3.  And  the  priest  shall  put  on  his 
linen  coat,  and  linen  breeches  shall  he  put  on  his  flesh ;  and 
he  shall  take  up  the  ashes  into  which  the  fire  consumeth  the 
burnt-sacrifice  on  the  altar,  and   put  them  beside  the  altar. 

4.  And  he  shall  strip  off  his  clothes  and  put  on  other  clothes : 
and  carry  the  ashes  forth  without  the  camp  unto  a  clean  place. 

5.  And  the  fire  upon  the  altar  shall  burn  on  it,  it  shall  not  go 

evening,  as  the  sunset  was  the  beginning  of  the  Hebrew  day.  The 
fire  would  be  renewed  for  the  evening  sacrifice  every  day.  Shall  burn 
on  it?  The  fire  thus  prepared  for  the  perpetual  burnt-sacrifice  is  to 
burn  all  night  on  it,  that  is,  on  the  altar.  3.  And  the  priest.  In  the 
morning  the  priest  is  to  trim  the  altar  fire  that  has  been  burning  all 
the  night.  Shall  put  on.  For  this  jDurpose  he  is  to  put  on  linen 
garments.  The  breeches  are  mentioned  in  particular  because  he  is 
now  to  mount  the  altar.  This  linen  array  is  the  emblem  of  purity 
and  humility,  in  which  he  is  for  the  present  purpose  to  approach  the 
altar.  Take  up  the  ashes.  This  manual  labor  belongs  to  the  priest 
because  it  is  connected  with  the  altar,  and  these  are  the  ashes  of  the 
burnt-sacrifice.  Beside  the  altar.  On  the  east  end  or  rear  of  it  (i.  1 6). 
The  object  of  laying  the  ashes  in  the  rear  of  the  altar  is  that  the 
priest  may  renew  the  fire  and  offer  the  morning  sacrifice  before  he 
takes  off  his  official  dress  to  carry  them  out  of  the  the  camp.  Strip 
off.  The  official  garments  befit  the  altar  and  the  court,  but  not  the 
outer  world.  Without  the  camp.  The  residue  from  the  altar  is  in 
one  sense  accursed,  as  that  which  bears  the  iniquity  of  the  sinner,  and 
therefore  must  have  no  place  in  the  camp  of  the  holy  nation.  Unto  a 
clean  place.  In  another  sense,  and  in  itself,  it  is  holy  and  without 
blemish,  and  has  been  consecrated  unto  the  Lord,  and  therefore  as  a 
holy  thing  must  not  be  cast  down  in  a  common  or  unclean  place.  5. 
Burn  on  it^  that  is  on  the  altar,  to  which  the  pronoun  refers.  Not  go 
out.  The  fire  on  the  altar  is  to  be  a  perpetual  expression  of  accept- 
ance through  an  atonement.  To  keep  up  this  fire  the  priest  shall  put 
on  fresh  wood,  and  lay  on  it  the  morning  sacrifice  before  he  leaves  the 
holy  place  with  the  ashes ;  and  all  clay  long,  as  occasion  requires,  he 
shall  burn  on  it  the  memorials  of  the  oblation,  and  the  fat  of  the 


LEVITICUS  VI.  6-10.  87 

out;  and  the  priest  shall  burn  wood  on  it  every  morning; 
and  he  shall  lay  on  it  the  burnt-sacrifice,  and  burn  on  it  the 
fat  of  the  peace-offerings.  6.  Fire  shall  burn  always  on  the 
altar,  it  shall  not  go  out.  § 

7.  And  this  is  the  law  of  the  oblation  :  let  Aaron's  sons  offer 
it  before  the  Lord  upon  the  altar.  8.  And  he  shall  lift  of  it  in 
his  neaf  of  the  flour  of  the  oblation  and  of  its  oil  and  all  the 
frankincense  which  is  on  the  oblation,  and  burn  on  the  altar 
for  a  sweet  smell  the  memorial  of  it  unto  the  Lord.  9.  And 
the  remainder  thereof  shall  Aaron  and  his  sons  eat :  sweet 
shall  it  be  eaten,  in  the  holy  place,  in  the  court  of  the  tent  of 
meeting  they  shall  eat  it.  10.  It  shall  not  be  baken  with 
leaven  ;  I  have  given  it  as  their  portion  of  my  fire-offerings  ;  it 
is  most  holy,  as  the  sin-sacrifice  and  as  the  trespass-offering. 

peace-offerings,  and  other  sacrifices.  6.  Burn  always,  as  a  symbol  of 
the  perpetual  acceptance  of  the  true  propitiation  once  to  be  made,  and 
of  the  perpetual  worship  of  God  and  fellowship  of  his  people  with  him. 
The  fire  that  came  down  from  heaven  on  the  altar  was  the  token  of 
the  divine  acceptance  of  the  sacrifice  offered  for  his  people.  It  is 
abundantly  manifest  from  all  this  that  the  burnt-sacrifice  was  the  sum 
and  substance  of  all  sacrifice,  and  the  symbol  of  propitiation. 

7-11.  The  law  of  the  oblation  of  the  people.  7.  Aaron's  sons,  that 
is,  one  of  them,  thou  of  his  sons,  as  the  verb  is  in  the  imperative. 
Upon  the  altar,  literally,  on  the  face  of  the  altar.  8.  This  is  a  re- 
capitulation of  ii.  9  for  the  sake  of  connection.  9.  The  remainder 
thereof.  Here  we  have  the  detail  of  the  disposal  of  the  remainder 
which  in  ii.  10  is  omitted,  not  being  to  the  purpose  then  in  hand. 
Sweet,  unleavened.  In  the  holy  place,  because  it  is  most  holy  (ii.  10). 
The  holy  place  includes  the  court  of  the  tabernacle,  where  a  suitable 
place  would  be  provided  for  the  purpose.  10.  Not  he  balden  with 
leaven  (ii.  11),  neither  by  the  worshipper  nor  by  the  priest.  I  have 
given  it.  The  oblation  belongs  wholly  to  the  Lord.  He  disposes  of 
it  as  it  pleases  him.  The  memorial  is  burned  on  his  altar ;  the  re- 
mainder eaten  by  his  priests.     3Ty  Jire-offerings.     The  whole  is  a 


88  LAWS  OF  THE  OFFERINGS. 

11.  Every  male  of  the  sons  of  Aarou  shall  eat  of  it :  it  is  a 
statute  forever  for  your  generations  of  the  fire-offerings  of  the 
Lord  :  all  that  toucheth  them  shall  be  holy.  *\\ 

12.  And  the  Lord  fepake  unto  Moses,  saying,  13.  This  is 
the  offering  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  which  they  shall  offer  to 
the  Lord  in  the  day  when  he  is  anointed,  the  tenth  of  an 
ephah  of  flour  for  a  perpetual  oblation,  half  of  it  in  the  morn- 
ing and  half  of  it  in  the  evening.     14.  On  a  pan  shall  it  be 


fixe-offering ;  hence,  after  the  memorial  is  burnt,  to  be  eaten  by  the 
priests  has  the  same  import  as  to  be  consumed  by  fire  on  the  altar. 
It  denotes  propitiation.  Host  holy,  because  it  is  wholly  his,  as  the 
Bin-sacrifice  and  the  trespass-offering  are  wholly  his.  11.  Every  male  ; 
because  he  is  a  priest,  or  will  be  when  he  is  full-grown.  A  statute 
forever,  continuing  until  the  substance  comes  of  which  it  is  the 
shadow.  All  that  toucheth  them  shall  he  holy.  This  is  capable  of  two 
meanings.  Every  one  that  toucheth  them  must  be  ceremonially  or 
essentially  holy ;  or  everything  that  toucheth  them  thereby  acquires 
the  quality  of  holiness.  The  latter  seems  to  be  the  more  natural 
meaning.     See  on  Ex.  xsix.  37. 

12-16.  The  daily  oblation  of  the  high-priest.  This  paragraph 
forms  a  distinct  communication  of  itself,  which  Moses  puts  here  in  its 
right  place.  In  the  general  ordinances  concerning  the  offering  in  the 
first  five  chapters  it  would  have  been  out  of  place  because  of  its 
speciality.  In  the  special  rules  now  given  it  has  its  appropriate  place. 
On  account  of  its  peculiar  importance  it  forms  the  subject  of  a  separate 
communication.  It  is  manifest  that  this  communication  must  have 
been  made  before  the  consecration  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  as  it  forms 
part  of  their  immediate  functions.  13.  The  offering  of  Aaron  and  his 
sons.  From  this  and  the  following  context  we  learn  that  this  is  an 
offering  from  the  priestly  order,  and  pre-eminently  from  the  high- 
priest  as  their  head.  In  the  day  when  he  is  anointed.  This  refers  to 
the  high-priest,  who  received  a  special  anointing  on  the  day  of  his 
consecration.  Having  been  consecrated  he  was  empowered  to  officiate 
as  a  priest.     From  that  day  he  presents  his  oblation  along  with  the 


LEVITICUS  VI.  14-17.  89 

made  with  oil,  toasted  thou  shalt  bring  it ;  an  oblation  of  fried 
crumbs  thou  shalt  offer  it  for  a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord, 
15.  And  the  priest  anointed  in  his  stead  of  his  sons  shall  make 
it :  it  is  a  statute  forever  unto  the  Lokd  ;  it  shall  be  wholly 
burnt.  16.  And  every  oblation  of  a  priest  shall  be  a  whole 
offering;  it  shall  not  be  eaten.  ^ 

17.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,     18.  Speak 

burnt-sacrifice  of  the  people.  A  perpetual  oblation,  to  be  offered 
morning  and  evening  like  the  daily  sacrifice.  14.  On  a  pan.  The  flour 
is  to  be  kneaded  without  leaven  and  baked  on  a  pan.  With  oil,  like 
the  other  oblations.  Toasted.^*  This  is  rendered  by  some  mixed,  by 
others  toasted  or  hardened  by  fire.  Of  fried  ^*  crumbs.  The  word 
rendered  "fried"  occurs  only  here.  But  it  denotes  exposure  to  the  fire 
in  a  pan  according  to  the  context.  15.  Anointed  in  his  stead.  His 
successor  in  the  ofiice  of  high-priest.  This  implies  that  the  high-priest 
made  this  offering  for  the  priestly  family,  including  himself.  Shall 
make  it.  Not  only  offer,  but  prepare  it.  Wholly  burnt.  The  whole, 
not  a  memorial  of  it,  is  to  be  placed  on  the  altar,  because  the  offerer 
partakes  not  of  his  oblation,  and  in  this  case  the  offerer  is  the  priest 
himself.  16.-4  whole  offering.  This  term  is  applied  to  any  offering 
that  is  wholly  consumed  on  the  altar  by  fire,  and  hence  to  the  burnt- 
sacrifice  (1  Sam.  vii.  9).  The  rule  of  the  preceding  verses  is  here 
generalized,  and  applied  to  all  priestly  oblations.  Thus,  along  with 
the  whole  sacrifice  of  the  people,  morning  and  evening,  was  presented 
the  whole  oblation  of  the  high-priest.  As  the  former  represented  the 
one  propitiation  which  was  of  perpetual  avail  for  the  chosen  people, 
so  the  latter  symbolized  the  unblemished  integrity  of  him  who  was  to 
mediate  between  God  and  man.  The  whole  oblation  was  conse- 
quently the  meet  accomjjaniment  of  the  whole  sacrifice  of  every 
evening  and  morning. 

17-23.  The  law  of  the  sin-sacrifice.  Here  begins  a  new  communi- 
cation, which  includes  the  laws  of  the  sin-sacrifice,  the  trespass-offering 
and  the  peace-offering.  A  new  arrangement  of  the  offerings  here 
makes  its  appearance.  The  burnt-sacrifice  and  oblation  take  the  first 
place,  as  before,  and  the  other  three  are  formed  into  one  group.  Here 
12 


90  LAWS   OF  THE   OFFERINGS. 

unto  Aaron  and  to  his  sons,  saying,  This  is  the  law  of  the  sin- 
sacrifice  :  In  the  place  where  the  hurnt-sacrifice  is  slain  shall 
the  sin-sacrifice  be  slain  before  the  Loed  ;  it  is  most  holy.  19. 
The  priest  that  offereth  it  for  sin  shall  eat  it :  in  the  holy  place 

the  principle  of  division  is  the  constant  and  the  occasional.  The 
burnt-sacritice  of  the  nation  is  to  be  presented  every  morning  and 
evening.  And  from  Num.  xv.  and  xxviii.  we  learn  that  it  was  in- 
variably accompanied  with  a  meat-oifering  and  drink-offering.  Hence 
these  two  agree  in  being  constant.  And  it  is  obvious  that  the  peace- 
offering  being  voluntary,  and  the  sin-sacrifice  and  trespass-offering 
referring  to  particular  offences,  are  by  their  very  nature  occasional. 
The  constant  go  before,  the  occasional  follow  after.  Moreover,  the 
sin-sacrifice  and  trespass-offering  here  precede  the  peace-offering. 
This  rests  on  another  principle  of  arrangement  adapted  to  the  present 
object.  The  burnt-sacrifice,  being  wholly  burnt  on  the  altar,  is  placed 
first;  the  oblation,  the  sin-sacrifice,  and  the  trespass-offering,  being 
usually  burnt  in  part  on  the  altar,  and  eaten  in  part  by  the  priests, 
come  next ;  and  the  peace-offering  being  one  part  burnt  on  the  altar, 
one  part  eaten  by  the  priests,  and  the  main  part  eaten  by  the  wor- 
shippers, stands  last  of  all.  18.  Speak  unto  Aaron.  The  priests  have 
the  administration  of  these  laws.  The  place  of  slaughter  is  first  deter- 
mined. It  is  where  the  burnt-sacrifice  is  slain,  at  the  north  side  of  the 
altar  (i.  11).  It  is  most  holy.  The  sacrifice  for  sin  is  the  substitute 
for  the  sinner.  It  is  holy  because  it  must  in  itself  be  unblemished, 
and  it  is  doubly  holy  because  it  is  unreservedly  devoted  to  the  Lord. 
19.  That  offers  it  for  sin,  literally,  that  makes  it  sin,  treats  it  as  that 
which  bears  iniquity,  not  its  own,  but  that  of  another.  We  have 
already  seen  that  the  victim  must  be  a  moral  being,  a  free  and  inde- 
pendent agent,  and  that  the  priest  and  the  victim  must  be  one  and  the 
same.  But  in  type  this  requires  a  manifold  representation.  Shall 
eat  it.  The  priest  is  mediator  between  the  sinner  and  his  Maker. 
Hence  he  represents  alternately  the  former  and  the  latter.  To  eat 
the  sacrifice  is  to  accept  it.  Hence  the  priest  in  doing  so  represents 
God ;  and  for  this  reason  he  alone  is  to  eat  of  it.  In  the  holy  place, 
the  dwelling-place  of  God,  where  he  welcomes  the  returning  offender. 


LEVITICUS  VI.   20-23.  91 

shall  it  be  eaten,  in  the  court  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  20.  All 
that  toiicheth  its  flesh  shall  be  holy ;  and  when  any  of  its 
blood  is  spattered  on  a  garment,  thou  shalt  wash  that  on 
which  it  is  spattered  in  the  holy  place.  21.  And  the  earthen 
vessel  wherein  it  is  sodden  shall  be  broken ;  and  if  it  be  sodden 
in  a  brazen  vessel,  then  it  shall  be  scoured  and  rinsed  in  water. 
22.  Every  male  among  the  priests  shall  eat  of  it ;  it  is  most 
holy.     23.  And  no  sin-sacrifice,  whereof  any  of  the  blood  is 

20.  All  that  toucheth  its  Jlesh.  Everything  that  innocently  touches 
the  flesh,  and  inanimate  objects  can  only  so  touch  it,  shall  be  holy, 
consecrated  to  the  Lord.  This  indicates  the  expiatory  virtue  of  the 
sacrifice  to  him  who  with  an  intelligent  purpose  lays  his  hand  on  it. 
On  a  garment.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  victim  has  a  twofold 
character  :  in  itself  holy,  and  in  its  act  most  holy  ;  but  in  the  stead  of 
the  guilty  accursed,  suffering  the  whole  penalty  of  disobedience.  The 
material  touch  represents  the  moral  touch,  the  touch  of  regretful  faith 
in  the  mediator.  The  garment  accidentally  touched  with  the  blood 
of  expiation  is  tainted  with  the  uncleanness  of  the  sin  which  it  bears, 
and  cannot  be  put  to  a  common  use  unless  the  contact  be  broken  or 
undone.  Hence  the  garment  spattered  with  the  blood  must  be  washed 
by  the  priest  or  his  minister  in  the  holy  place.  21.  Tlie  earthen  vessel, 
in  which  the  flesh  is  sodden  is  by  its  porous  nature  so  impregnated 
with  its  essence  that  the  contact  cannot  be  broken.  And  hence  it 
must  never  be  used  again.  It  is  broken,  because  it  partakes  of  the 
curse  of  sin  on  the  one  hand,  and  in  order  that  it  may  not  be  applied 
to  a  common  use  on  the  other.  The  brass  or  copper  vessel  is  to  be 
scoured  and  rinsed,  as  in  this  way  the  contact  is  eff'ectually  undone. 
22.  Every  male;  who  even  in  childhood  is  prospectively  a  priest. 
Among  the  priests,  in  the  priestly  family.  23.  No  sin-sacrifice,  where- 
of any  of  the  blood  has  been  brought  into  the  sanctuary  to  make 
atonement,  shall  be  eaten.  This  rests  on  the  principle  that  the  priest's 
eating  of  the  flesh  and  the  burning  of  the  fat  on  the  altar  are  alike 
expressive  of  propitiation.  The  latter  takes  place  in  every  sin-sacri- 
fice, and  sufficiently  expresses  propitiation.  The  former  method  canriot 
be  employed  when  the  high-priest  is  the  oflferer,  because  the  offerer 


92  LAWS  OF  THE  OFFERINGS. 

brought  unto  the  tent  of  meeting  to  atone  in  the  holy  place, 
shall  be  eaten  :  it  shall  be  burned  in  the  fire. 

does  not  partake  of  his  own  sin-sacrifice,  and  the  other  priests  are  in 
this  case  also  excluded  from'partaking  on  the  same  ground  on  which 
no  oblation  of  a  priest  is  to  be  eaten  (vs.  16).  The  same  rule  may  be 
extended  to  the  whole  congregation,  which  is  a  kingdom  of  priests 
(Ex.  xix.  6),  and  therefore  the  high-priest,  its  representative,  does  not 
partake  of  its  sin-sacrifice.  These  are  the  two  cases  in  which  the 
blood  is  brought  into  the  sanctuary,  and  the  flesh  is  burnt  without  the 
camp.  It  shall  he  burned,  consumed  by  fire  in  the  clean  place,  without 
the  camp,  where  the  ashes  of  the  altar  are  laid.  This  indicates  the 
second  death  or  perpetual  destruction,  which  is  the  natural  destiny  of 
the  sinful. 

NOTES. 

2.  Law,  lin'itn,  doctrine,  practical  principle;  r.  in  hiph.  teach. 
Hearth,  <T7Pr^ '  pl^^e  of  burning.  Found  only  here ;  r.  ^p^ ,  hum. 
On  it,  ia .  The  pronoun  both  here  and  in  vs.  5  is  masculine,  and 
therefore  cannot  refer  to  the  T^V  (Keil)  or  the  trnpiia,  which  are 
feminine.    The  altar,  which  is  masculine,  affords  the  natural  antecedent. 

14.  Toasted,  nsai.ri,  Sept.  7r€(f>vpaix€vr]v,  mixed  or  kneaded.  It 
occurs  only  here,  in  Lev.  vh.  12,  and  1  Chron.  xxiii.  29.  Fried,  '^3"'Stn, 
from  Ci^n,  burn,  (F.)  or  nsx ,  hake  (Ges.).  The  construction  is  very 
peculiar,  giving  as  the  literal  rendering,  "fried  of  an  oblation  of 
crumbs,"  the  first  word  agreeing  with  the  last  in  number. 

16.    Wiole  offering,  b^bs   (Ps.  li.  21). 

Vn.    LAWS  OF  THE  OFFERINGS  —  Con^mwecZ. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  the  remainder  of  the  third  communication 
and  the  fourth  and  fifth  on  what  may  be  called  the  by-laws  of  the 
offerings.  In  the  continuation  of  tlie  third  communication  are  in- 
cluded the  law  of  the  trespass-offering  (1-10),  and  that  of  the  peace- 
offering  (1 1-21).  The  fourth  refers  to  the  prohibition  of  fat  and  blood, 
(22-27)  ;  and  the  fifth  to  the  rights  of  the  priests  in  regard  to  the  peace- 
offerings  (28-36).     This  is  followed  by  the  recapitulation  (37,  38). 


LEVITICUS  VII.  1-7. 


93 


YII.  1.  And  this  is  the  law  of  the  trespass-offering :  it  is 
most  holy.  2.  In  the  place  where  they  slay  the  burnt-sacrifice 
shall  they  slay  the  trespass-offering :  and  the  blood  thereof 
shall  he  sprinkle  on  the  altar  around.  3.  And  he  shall  offer 
of  it  all  its  fat ;  the  tail  and  the  fat  that  covereth  the  inwards. 
4.  And  the  two  kidneys  and  the  fat  that  is  upon  them,  which 
is  by  the  flanks ;  and  the  caul  upon  the  liver,  with  the  kidneys 
shall  he  take  it  away.  5.  And  the  priest  shall  burn  them  on 
the  altar,  a  fire-offering  unto  the  Lord  :  it  is  a  trespass-offering. 
6.  Every  male  among  the  priests  shall  eat  of  it :  in  the  holy 
place  shall  it  be  eaten ;  it  is  most  holy.  7.  As  the  sin-sacrifice, 
so  is  the  trespass-offering ;  they  have  one  law :  the  priest  that 

1-10.  The  law  of  the  trespass-offering.  It  is  most  holy.  The  vic- 
tim being  righteous  is  holy.  Being  a  vohmtary  substitute  for  another 
it  is  most  holy.  2.  The  place  of  slaughter,  on  the  north  side  of  the  altar, 
as  usual  (i.  11).  Sprinhle  on  the  altar  around,  as  in  the  whole  sacrifice 
(i.  5).  Tlie  blood  of  the  trespass-offering  makes  expiation,  as  that 
of  the  burnt-sacrifice.  The  particulars  in  this  and  the  three  following 
verses  are  prescribed,  in  accordance  with  iii.  2-5,  for  the  double  purpose 
of  completing  the  former  account  and  connecting  the  present.  3-5. 
All  its  fat,  as  in  the  sacrifice  of  peace ;  indicating  the  satisfaction  which 
completes  propitiation.  6.  The  flesh  is  to  be  eaten  by  the  priests, 
actual  or  prospective.  This  is  a  token  of  complete  acceptance,  as  in 
the  sin-sacrifice  (vi.  19).  7-10.  The  dues  of  the  priest  in  all  the 
preceding  offerings.  The  law  of  the  trespass-offering  is  completed  in 
the  previous  verse.  Before  proceeding  to  the  peace-offering,  the  sac- 
rifice in  which  the  offerer  partakes  of  the  feast,  the  dues  of  the 
priests  in  the  others  are  determined  in  a  summary  way.  7.  So  is  the 
trespass-offering.  This  is  the  connecting  link  with  the  preceding 
passage.  They  have  one  law,  regarding  the  disposal  of  the  flesh. 
That  atoneth  with  it.  This  points  to  the  difference  between  the  sin 
and  the  trespass-offering.  "With  the  former  the  priest  expiates  for  sin 
(vi.  18)  ;  with  the  latter  he  atones  for  trespass,  that  is,  for  righteous- 
ness unfulfilled.     The  former  represents  the  suffering  of  the  penalty 


94  LAWS  OF  THE  OFFEEINGS. 

atonetli  with  it  shall  have  it.  8.  And  the  priest  that  offereth 
any  man's  burnt-sacrifice,  the  skin  of  the  burnt  sacrifice  which 
he  hath  oft'ered  he,  the  priest,  shall  have.  9.  And  every  obla- 
tion that  is  baken  in  the  oven  and  all  that  is  made  in  the  pot 
and  on  the  pan,  the  priest  that  offereth  it  he  shall  have  it. 
10.  And  every  oblation,  mingled  with  oil  or  dry,  shall  all  the 
sons  of  Aaron  have,  the  one  as  the  other.  ^ 

11.  And  this  is  the  law  of  the  sacrifice  of  peace,  which  he 

incurred,  the  latter  the  performance  of  the  duty  neglected.  8.  The 
shin  of  the  burnt-sacrijice.  From  the  perquisite  of  the  priest  in  the 
trespass-offering  and  the  sin-sacrifice  the  writer  is  led  to  mention  the 
skin  of  the  burnt-sacrifice  as  the  only  thing  in  it  belonging  to  the 
priest.  It  is  truly  the  whole-sacrifice,  all  the  flesh  being  burned  on 
the  altar.  According  to  Rabbi  Levi  the  skins  of  the  offerings  for  sin 
and  trespass  went  also  to  the  priest,  while  that  of  the  peace-offering 
belonged  to  the  offerer  (see  Mishnah,  zeb.  xii.  3).  9.  All  these  obla- 
tions shall  belong  to  the  priest  who  officiates  in  receiving  them  and 
presenting  the  memorial  of  them  on  the  altar.  They  were  cooked, 
and  therefore  to  be  eaten  immediately.  The  priest,  whose  perquisite 
they  were,  was  no  doubt  at  liberty  to  share  his  superfluity,  if  any, 
with  other  priests.  10.  All  other  oblations  of  the  people,  after  the 
memorial  was  placed  on  the  altar,  belonged  to  the  priests  in  common 
(see  chap.  2).  Mingled  with  oil  or  dry.  The  former  have  already 
been  mostly  enumerated  in  chap.  ii.  The  dry  included  the  flour  on 
which  oil  was  merely  poured  (ii.  1),  the  sin-sacrifice  of  flour  (v.  13), 
the  sheaf  of  the  first-fruits  (xxiii.  10),  the  jealousy  oblation  (Num. 
V.  18),  and  the  like.  The  one  as  the  other.  These  oblations  were  not 
cooked,  and  were  perhaps  more  abundant  than  the  others.  They  form 
therefore  a  common  store. 

11-18.  The  law  of  the  peace-offering.  Of  this  there  are  three  kinds, 
thanksgiving,  the  vow,  and  the  free  gift.  11.  WIdch  he  shall  offer.  The 
phrase  is  indefinite,  which  one  shall  offer,  or  which  may  be  offered. 
In  the  ordinance  for  this  sacrifice  the  disposal  of  the  blood  and  of  the 
fat  was  very  precisely  and  fully  laid  down  in  chap,  iii.,  with  a  closing 
warning  against  the  eating  of  fat  or  blood.     But  no  intimation  was 


i 


LEVITICUS  VII.    11-14.  95 

shall  offer  to  the  Lord.  12.  If  he  offer  it  for  a  thanksgiving, 
then  he  shall  offer  with  the  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving  sweet 
cakes  mingled  with  oil,  and  sweet  wafers  anointed  with  oil,  and 
cakes  of  toasted  flour  mingled  with  oil.  13.  With  cakes  of 
leavened  bread  he  sliall  make  his  offering,  with  his  thank-sacri- 
fico  of  peace.  14.  And  he  shall  offer  of  it  one  out  of  the  whole 
offering,  a  heaving  unto  the  Lord  :  the  priest  that  sprinkleth 
the  blood  of  the  peace-offering  shall  have  it.     15.  And  the 

given  of  the  use  that  was  to  be  made  of  the  flesh.  This  was  in  keeping 
with  the  end  then  in  view,  which  was  to  mark  that  which  effects  atone- 
ment, and  procured  acceptance  and  all  the  blessings  it  involves.  "We 
are  now  to  be  made  acquainted  with  a  secondary  or  subsidiary  part 
of  the  peace-offering  of  the  deepest  interest  to  the  pious  offerer.  This 
is  the  sacrificial  feast  which  was  made  of  the  flesh  and  accompanying 
oblation  and  libation  (Num.  xv.).  This  was  the  earnest  and  the  fore- 
shadow of  all  the  blessings  of  peace  with  God  through  the  atonement 
of  the  Mediator.  12.  The  thank-offering.  Here  we  are  informed 
that  the  sacrifice  of  peace  is  to  be  accompanied  with  sweet,  that  is 
unleavened,  cakes,  mingled  with  oil,  sweet  wafers  spread  with  oil,  and 
another  kind  of  cakes  toasted  in  a  particular  manner.  13.  With  cakes 
of  leavened  bread.  These  are  not  the  proper  offering,  but  an  accom- 
paniment of  it.  The  offering  is  given  in  the  previous  verse.  This 
was  to  be  a  communion  feast,  and  an  ample  supply  of  bread  was  neces- 
sary, that  it  might  be  eaten  with  the  flesh.  But  none  of  the  leavened 
bread  is  to  be  placed  on  the  altar  (ii.  11).  With  his  thanh-sacrijice 
of  peace.  The  sacrifice  of  peace  now  in  question  is  the  thanksgiving, 
with  which  is  connected  the  oblation  of  cakes,  laid  on  or  presented 
with  cakes  of  leavened  bread  for  the  accompanying  feast.  14.  One 
out  of  the  whole  offering.  This  one  is  an  acknowledgment  that  the 
whole  belongs  to  the  Lord.  It  is  not,  however,  a  memorial  to  be 
burnt  upon  the  altar,  but  a  heaving  or  heave-offering  to  the  Lord. 
The  heaving  is  that  which  is  heaved  up  in  token  of  its  being  dedi- 
cated to  the  Lord,  without  being  laid  on  the  altar  to  be  burned  as  a 
sweet  smell  (Num.  v.  9).  Instead  of  this,  it  shall  be  given  to  the 
priest  who  sprinkles  the  blood  of  the  peace-offering  on  the  altar.     15. 


96  LAWS  OF  THE  OFFERINGS. 

flesh  of  his  thank-sacrifice  of  peace  shall  be  eaten  in  the  day 
of  his  offering :  he  shall  not  leave  any  of  it  till  the  morning. 
16.  And  if  the  sacrifice  of  his  offering  be  a  vow  or  a  free  gift, 
it  shall  be  eaten  in  the  day  that  he  offereth  his  sacrifice :  and 
on  the  morrow  that  which  is  left  of  it  shall  be  eaten.  17.  And 
that  which  is  left  of  the  flesh  of  the  sacrifice  on  the  third  day 
shall  be  burnt  with  fire.  18.  And  if  any  of  the  flesh  of  his 
sacrifice  of  peace  be  at  all  eaten  on  the  third  day,  it  shall  not  be 
accepted,  it  shall  not  be  counted  to  him  that  offereth  it;  it 
shall  be  a  foul  thing ;  and  the  soul  that  eateth  of  it  shall  bear 

In  the  day  of  his  offering.  The  flesh  of  the  thank-ofFering  is  to  be 
eaten  by  the  offerer  on  the  day  on  which  it  is  presented.  None  of  it 
is  to  be  left  till  the  next  day.  This  is  the  solemn  and  joyful  act 
that  imparts  its  peculiar  character  to  the  peace-offering.  It  is  sym- 
bolic of  the  benefits  and  privileges  of  those  who  are  reconciled  to 
God,  admitted  to  his  home,  and  treated  as  his  children  and  heirs.  It 
stands  at  the  end  of  all  faith,  the  crowning  solemnity  and  sole  festival 
of  the  people  of  God,  as  the  day  of  atonement  stands  at  the  beginning 
of  all  repentance,  the  solitary  day  of  sorrow  and  self-humiliation 
throughout  the  year. 

16.  The  vow  or  free  gift.  This  may  be  eaten  on  the  day  of  offer- 
ing or  the  next  day.  The  offering  of  gratitude  is  more  worthy  than 
that  of  the  vow  or  the  free  gift.  It  is  therefore  to  be  exhausted  by 
generosity  to  the  poor  on  the  day  of  offering  (Corn,  a  Lap.).  17.  The 
remainder  on  the  third  day  is  to  be  burned  with  fire  in  the  clean  place 
where  the  ashes  of  the  altar  are  deposited,  or  in  some  place  equally 
suitable.  18.  If  eaten  on  the  third  day,  it  will  not  be  accepted.  It 
will  then  be  beginning  to  putrefy,  and  will  be  unfit  for  food,  much  less 
for  being  accepted  as  the  representative  of  the  unblemished  victim. 
It  shall  not  he  counted  to  the  offerer  as  a  sacrifice  of  peace.  To  count 
or  impute  is  to  reckon  to  his  account,  so  that  he  has  the  credit  of  it, 
and  the  full  benefit  accruing  therefrom.  This  is  a  word  of  incalculable 
interest  to  him  who  is  guilty  and  doomed  to  die.  It  indicates  the 
possibility  and  the  mode  of  deliverance  from  this  doom,  on  two  con- 


LEVITICUS  Yll.  13-20.  97 

his  iniquity.  19.  And  the  flesh  that  toucheth  any  unclean 
thing  shall  not  be  eaten  ;  it  shall  be  burnt  with  fire :  but  the 
flesh  in  itself  every  one  that  is  clean  shall  eat.  20.  And  the 
soul  that  eateth  flesh  of  the  sacrifice  of  peace  that  belongcth  to 
the  Lord,  while  his  uncleanness  is  on  him,  that  soul  shall  even 

ditions  external  to  the  sinner :  first,  that  one  be  found  willing  and 
able  to  allow  the  sin  to  be  counted  to  him,  and  so  to  do  and  to  bear 
for  the  sinner  all  that  justice  demands ;  and  second,  that  the  Judge  of 
all  the  earth  be  pleased  to  count  the  sin  to  the  substitute,  and  his 
obedience  and  suffering  to  tbe  guilty,  and  so  to  pardon  and  accept  the 
sinner.  One  other  condition  in  the  sinner  himself  is  necessary,  in 
order  that  this  merciful  imputation  may  avail  him.  He  must  with 
becoming  feelings  come  before  liis  Maker,  and  lay  his  hand  upon  the 
substitute.  It  shall  be  a  foul  tking,^^  a  fetid  or  corrupt  thing,  abhor- 
rent to  the  i')ure  taste  or  sense.  Bear  his  iniquity.  He  shall  incur 
blame  by  doing  that  which  is  forbidden ;  and,  as  his  sacrifice  ceases 
to  have  any  propitiating  power,  all  his  guilt  remains  as  it  was  before 
it  was  offered. 

19-21.  Uncleanness  bars  from  communion.  The  nullifying  effect 
of  eating  the  flesh  of  the  peace-offering  on  the  third  day  naturally 
leads  to  the  distinction  of  the  clean  and  the  unclean,  and  to  the  conse- 
quent determination  that  the  former  are  admissible  to  the  sacrificial 
feast,  the  latter  not.  The  question  is  a  practical  one  likely  to  arise, 
and  needing  an  answer.  This  is  the  proper  time  to  give  it.  19.  The 
Jlesh  that  toucheth  any  unclean  thing.  As  contact  with  the  flesh  of 
the  sin-sacrifice  renders  holy,  so  contact  with  anything  unclean  defiles 
the  flesh  of  the  peace-offering,  and  renders  it  ceremonially  unfit  for 
food.  It  is  to  be  consumed  by  fire.  Otherwise  the  Jlesh  in  itself, 
apart' from  such  contact,  may  be  partaken  of  by  all  that  are  clean. 
This  precept  applies  to  all  flesh  killed  for  food,  as  it  was,  in  some 
respect,  dedicated  to  the  Lord  (Lev.  xvii. ;  Deut.  xii.  6,  21-25).  20. 
The  soul  that  eateth  flesh.  Ceremonial  uncleanness  unfits  for  sacrificial 
communion.  The  lesson  here  taught  is  of  essential  importance.  We 
have  seen  above  that  the  doctrine  of  imputation,  in  all  its  length  and 
breadth,  is  the  external  condition  of  deliverance  for  a  soul  that  has 
13 


98  LAWS  or  THE  OFFERINGS. 

be  cut  off  from  his  people.  21.  And  the  soul  that  toucheth 
anything  unclean,  the  uncleanness  of  man  or  an  unclean  beast 
or  any  unclean  loathsome  thing,  and  eateth  of  the  flesh  of  the 
sacrifice  of  peace  which  belongeth  to  the  Lord,  that  soul  shall 
even  be  cut  off  from  his  people. 

22.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,     23.  Speak 

sinned  against  God.  The  internal  condition  requisite  to  salvation  is 
not  left  in  the  background.  Penitent  faith,  acknowledging,  feeling, 
and  accepting  the  mercy  of  God  in  the  atonement,  is  the  fruit  of  the 
new  birth.  This  moral  cleanness  is  represented  by  the  ceremonial 
cleanness.  He  that  draws  nigh  to  God  must  be  holy.  His  very 
drawing  nigh  is  the  consequence  of  a  change  of  heart.  For  the  peni- 
tent sinner  the  propitiation  affords  the  legal  qualification  for  accept- 
ance ;  the  penitence  itself  is  the  moral  qualification  for  accepting  the 
atonement  and  holding  communion  with  God.  .  That  belongeth  to  the 
Lord,  and  hence  is  set  apart  to  a  holy  use.  Out  off  from  his  people. 
This  is  to  be  excluded  from  the  covenant  of  grace,  and  treated  as  a 
heathen  or  alien  (Gen.  xvii.  14).  He  that  wittingly  violates  the 
sanctity  of  the  law  tramples  under  foot  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  and 
thereby  makes  himself  an  alien  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel  and 
a  stranger  from  the  covenants  of  promise.  This  exclusion  was  some- 
times attended  with  the  sentence  of  death,  as  in  Ex.  xxxi.  14.  But 
this  was  owing  to  the  violation  of  some  civil  law,  and  not  the  necessary 
consequence  of  excommunication.  21.  Ceremonial  defilement  arises 
from  touching  anything  unclean  (v.  2,  3).  Ani/  rmclean  loathsome 
thing  ■^^  either  fish,  fowl,  or  smaller  animal.  A  loathsome  thing  is 
more  comprehensive  than  a  crawler,  a  word  which  some  read  here. 
The  necessity  of  cleanness,  and  therefore  of  the  holiness  which  it 
symbolizes,  is  enforced  by  the  reiteration  of  the  sentence  of  excom- 
munication. 

22-27.  A  communication  is  here  made  emphatically  forbidding 
the  eating  of  fat  or  blood.  As  the  peace-offering  is  a  sacrificial  feast, 
in  which  alone  the  offerer  and  his  company  partake  of  the  flesh  of 
the  victims,  this  is  the  appropriate  place  for  reiterating  this  precept, 
and  inserting  a  special  communication  on  the  subject.     23.  No  fat  of 


LEVITICUS  VII.  23-27.  99 

unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  saying,  Ye  shall  eat  no  fat  of  ox  or 
sheep  or  goat.  24.  And  the  fat  of  the  dead  and  the  fat  of  the 
torn  may  be  put  to  any  use  ;  but  ye  shall  in  no  wise  eat  of  it. 
25.  For  whosoever  eateth  the  fat  of  the  beast  of  which  he 
may  present  a  fire-oflfering  unto  the  Lord,  the  soul  that  eateth 
shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people.  26.  And  ye  shall  eat  no 
blood  in  all  your  dwellings  of  fowl  or  of  cattle.  27.  Every 
soul  that  eateth  any  blood,  even  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from 
his  people.  ^ 

ox,  or  sheep,  or  goat.  This  refers  to  the  fat  pieces  constantly  enu- 
merated (iii.  3,  4,  9,  10,  14,  15)  and  not  to  any  fat  intermixed  with 
the  flesh  in  other  parts  of  the  body.  24.  The  dead,  that  which  has 
died  of  itself.  Tlie  torn,  is  that  which  has  been  killed  by  a  wild 
beast.  All  oxen,  sheep,  or  goats  slain,  while  the  people  were  in  the 
wilderness,  were  to  be  brought  to  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting, 
that  the  blood  might  be  sprinkled  on  the  altar  and  the  fat  burned  for 
a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord  (Lev.  xvii.  3-6).  Among  the  changes 
required  for  a  settled  state  in  their  own  land,  permission  is  given  to 
slay  cattle  for  consumption  in  their  gates,  with  the  sole  condition  that 
the  blood  be  spilled  on  the  ground  (Deut.  xii.  20-25).  The  fat  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  passage  quoted.  25.  Hence  it  appears  that  the 
prohibition  refers  to  the  fat  of  those  kinds  of  animals  that  may  be 
used  for  sacrifice,  and  not  to  that  of  other  kinds  of  clean  animals  that 
may  be  eaten,  but  not  sacrificed.  The  penalty  of  violating  this  pro- 
hibition is  excommunication.  We  have  already  seen  that  the  fat 
burned  on  the  altar  represents  the  perfect  obedience  of  the  Mediator, 
which  is  the  essential  element  of  propitiation  for  sin.  The  fat  being 
exclusively  devoted  to  this  sacred  use  is  not  to  be  applied  to  any  pro- 
fane or  common  use.  26,  27.  The  prohibition  of  blood  is  here 
added.  In  all  your  dwellings.  These  words  extend  the  precept  to  the 
residence  of  the  people  in  the  land  of  promise.  In  this  respect  the  law 
concerning  blood  is  more  comprehensive  than  that  concerning  fat.  Fowl 
and  cattle.  The  fat  of  fowl  has  not  been  previously  noticed  ;  but  the 
blood  is  made  as  important  as  that  of  cattle.  The  penalty  of  excom- 
munication is  applied  also  to  the  neglect  of  this  precept.     This  gives 


100  LAWS  OF  THE  OFFERINGS. 

28.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  29.  Speak 
unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  saying,  He  that  offereth  his  sacrifice 
of  peace  unto  the  Lord  shall  bring  his  offering  to  the  Lord 
of  his  sacrifice  of  peace.  30.  His  hands  shall  bring  the  fire- 
offerings  of  the  Lord  ;  the  fat  with  the  breast  he  shall  bring, 

a  unity  to  the  three  oflfences  of  eating  the  flesh  of  the  peace-ofFering 
in  a  state  of  uncleanness,  of  eating  the  fat  or  the  blood,  inasmuch  as 
they  all  cut  oiF  from  the  communion  of  the  faithful,  and  therefore 
from  the  feast  of  peace,  which  is  only  open  to  the  children  of  the 
covenant. 

28-36.  The  priest's  portion  in  the  peace-offering.  This  is  a  special 
communication.  It  comes  in  here  in  its  right  place,  as  it  completes 
the  account  of  the  peace-offering.  This  offering  stands  out  by  itself 
as  that  in  which  the  flesh  remains  the  property  of  the  worshipper, 
whereas  in  all  the  others  it  was  burnt  on  the  altar,  burnt  in  the  place 
of  ashes,  or  eaten  by  the  priests.  Hence,  when  the  priest's  rights  in 
aU  the  other  sacrifices  were  enumerated,  this  was  omitted,  because  the 
people  here  took  the  place  of  the  priest  in  respect  of  the  flesh.  When 
the  special  nature  of  this  offering  in  this  respect  has  been  made 
prominent,  a  new  communication  is  made,  addressed  to  the  sons  of 
Israel,  and  directing  them,  among  other  things,  to  assign  certain  por- 
tions of  the  victims  to  the  priest.  29.  His  offering  to  the  Lord,  the 
part  that  is  set  apart  to  the  Lord  from  the  peace-offering.  The  Lord 
is  present  at  this  festival,  partaking  with  his  people.  The  beatitude 
of  holiness  is  common  to  the  Lord  with  all  his  intelligent  and  holy 
creatures.  30.  His  hands  shall  Iring.  It  shall  be  a  solemn  act  of 
the  worshipper  in  person.  The  only  apparent  exceptions  to  this  are 
the  acts  of  the  people  by  their  representative  head,  and  of  the  family 
l)y  the  father.  The  fire-offerings,  those  parts  which  are  to  be  burned 
on  the  altar.  These  are  described  as  the  fat  with  the  breast.  This 
goes  to  prove  that  the  use  of  any  part  as  food  by  the  priest  is  of  the 
Same  import  as  the  turning  of  it  by  fire  into  a  sweet  smell  before  the 
Lord.  With  the  breast,  or  brisket.  The  breast  is  particularly  rehshed 
as  a  dainty  (Kalisch).  It  is  also  central  in  the  body,  and  adjacent  to 
the  seat  of  life.     It  is  therefore  suitable  for  the  Lord's  part  of  tlw 


LEVITICUS  VII.  28-35.  101 

the  breast  to  make  it  a  waving  before  the  Lord.  31.  And  the 
priest  shall  burn  the  fat  upon  the  altar ;  and  Aaron  and  his 
sons  shall  have  the  breast.  32.  And  the  right  leg  shall  ve 
give  as  a  heaving  to  the  priest  out  of  your  sacrifices  of  peace. 

33.  He  of  the  sons  of  Aaron  that  oifereth  the  blood  of  the 
peace-oflfering  and  the  fat  shall  have  the  right  leg  for  his  part. 

34.  For  the  wave-breast  and  the  heave-leg  have  I  taken  of  the 
sons  of  Israel  from  their  sacrifices  of  peace,  and  I  give  them  to 
Aaron  the  priest  and  to  his  sons  as  a  statute  forever  from  the 

sacrifice  of  peace.  This  was  to  be  waved  before  the  Lord.  Waving 
is  moving  to  and  fro.  It  probably  denotes  communion  among  the 
worshippers,  as  heaving  points  to  their  relation  to  God ;  (see  in  Ex. 
xxix.  24).  With  the  apparent  exception  of  this  and  the  corresponding 
passage  Lev.  viii.  27,  it  applies  to  that  which  is  reserved  from  the 
altar  to  be  assigned  to  the  priest  for  his  own  use.  The  exception  is 
only  apparent;  for  the  ram  of  consecration  was  a  priest's  offering, 
and  therefore  the  right  leg  which  would  otherwise  fall  to  the  priest 
is  consumed  on  the  altar,  as  in  the  case  of  the  priest's  daily  oblation. 
The  communion  of  saints  is  founded  on  communion  with  God. 
Hence  the  waving  is  before  the  Lord.  31.  The  fat  is  burned  as  a 
sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord.  The  breast  is  handed  over  to  the  priests. 
32.  And  the  right  legP  The  Sept.  uniformly  gives  the  fore-arm  for 
this  word  in  the  present  application.  There  is  no  decided  reason 
against  this  rendering,  as  tbe  word  only  applies  in  one  other  passage 
(1  Sam.  ix.  24)  to  the  limb  of  an  animal.  It  appears  to  be  used  in  a 
large  sense  here,  to  include  the  thigh  as  well  as  the  leg  properly  so 
called,  since  the  latter  would  yield  very  little  flesh.  As  a  heaving.  This 
was  a  raising  up  in  token  of  dedication  to  God,  or  communion  with 

him.     33.  He that  offereth.     The   priest  that  officiates  receives 

it,  as  he  is  the  representative  of  God.  The  blood  is  for  expiation  and 
the  fat  for  propitiation,  in  which  consists  the  proper  function  of  the 
priest.  34.  The  wave-breast,  which  is  the  Lord's  part  in  the  sac- 
rificial feast,  is  given  to  the  priests  in  common ;  the  heave-leg  falls  to 
him  who  officiates  on  the  occasion.  From  their  sacrifices  of  jyeace. 
There  is  a  different  arrangement  provided  for  other  animals  that  were 


102  LAWS  OF  THE  OFFERINGS. 

sons  of  Israel.  35.  This  is  the  portion  of  Aaron  and  the 
portion  of  his  sons  out  of  the  fire-offerings  of  the  Lord  in  the 
day  wlien  he  presented  them  to  be  priests  unto  the  Lord  ; 
SG.  Which  the  Lord  commanded  to  give  to  them  in  the  day 
that  he  anointed  them,  from  the  sons  of  Israel,  by  a  statute 
forever  for  their  generations. 

37.  This  is  the  law  for  the  burnt-sacrifice,  for  the  oblation, 
and  for  the  sin-sacrifice,  and  for  the  trespass-offering,  and  for 
the  consecration,  and  for  the  sacrifice  of  peace.  38.  Which 
the  Lord  commanded  Moses  in  mount  Sinai,  in  the  day  that 
he  commanded  the  sons  of  Israel  to  make  their  offerings  unto 
the  Lord  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai.  ^ 

slain  for  food  in  their  own  land  (Deut.  xviii.  3).  The  portion^  the 
unction  or  perquisite  connected  with  their  consecration.  The  heave- 
leg  of  the  ram  of  consecration  was  burned  upon  the  altar,  and  belongs 
to  the  Lord  for  his  priest  thenceforward.  In  the  day  when  he  pre- 
sented them.  The  verb  is  without  a  definite  subject.  The  Lord  by  his 
minister,  Moses,  brings  them  nigh  to  be  his  attendants.  To  he  priests  ; 
literally  to  do  the  part  of  a  priest.  36.  In  the  day  that  he  anointed 
them.     The  same  subject  is  to  be  supplied  also  in  this  sentence. 

37,  38.  These  verses  contain  the  summing  up  at  the  close  of  this 
section.  This  refers  in  the  first  instance  to  the  last  two  chapters,  as 
it  begins  with  the  burnt-sacrifice  and  goes  on  in  nearly  the  same 
order  to  the  peace-ofiering.  But  it  is  evident  that  it  really  covers 
the  whole  section,  as  the  supplementary  directions  contained  in  these 
chapters  for  the  guidance  of  the  priests,  presuppose  the  fundamental 
principles  of  these  ofierings  addressed  in  the  first  five  chapters  to  the 
people,  without  which  they  would  be  defective  and  unmeaning.  It 
affords  us  the  opportunity  of  recalling  to  mind  the  contents  of  these 
chapters  in  the  order  of  the  present  recapitulation. 

The  hiirnt-sacrijice  was  a  victim  of  which  the  blood  was  wholly 
sprinkled  on  the  altar,  and  the  fat  with  all  the  flesh  was  burned  on 
the  altar  as  a  fire-offering  of  a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord.  It  is  to  be 
observed  that  the  blood  sprinkled  on  the  altar  does  not  awaken  any 


LEVITICUS  Vn.  37.  103 

emotions  of  a  pleasing  kind  in  God.  It  is  never  said  to  be  a  sweet 
smeli.  And  when  we  reflect  that  it  is  the  blood  that  atones  or  ex- 
piates, because  the  blood  shed  is  the  life  given,  we  do  not  wonder  at 
this.  We  feel  that  it  must  call  forth  far  different  emotions  in  the 
breast  of  God  as  well  as  in  the  heart  of  man.  The  sense  of  justice 
constraining  to  exact  death  from  the  sinner  himself  or  from  the  vol- 
untary victim  that  has  taken  his  place  is  very  far  from  being  agreeable- 
It  is  the  dire,  hard,  and  strange  work  of  the  Holy  and  the  Just  One 
to  vindicate  the  law  and  lay  iniquity  on  the  sinner  or  the  sinner's 
friend.  And  wrath,  indignation,  grief,  pity,  and  other  painful  feelings 
akin  to  these,  contend  with  one  another  when  this  has  to  be  done,  and 
cannot  be  avoided.  And  what  shame,  sadness,  and  solemn  awe,  what 
regret  and  self-reproach,  what  unutterable  throes  of  repentance,  it  is 
fitted  to  excite  in  the  sinner  who  sees  the  victim  bleed  and  die  in  his 
stead.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fat  and  the  flesh  turned  by  the  fire  of 
the  altar  into  a  subtile  fume  that  scents  the  gale  is  the  meet  emblem 
of  that  righteousness  with  which  the  Lord  is  well  pleased.  Hence  it 
is  invariably  said  of  the  fire-offering  that  it  is  a  sweet  smell  unto  the 
Lord.  The  Scripture  is  full  of  the  delight  which  the  Lord  takes  in 
holiness,  justice,  goodness,  truth,  obedience,  love.  Passive,  suffering 
satisfaction  is  to  him  a  painful  necessity ;  active,  victorious  satisfac- 
tion is  a  source  of  the  purest  delight.  The  burnt-sacrifice  is,  moreover, 
a  whole  sacrifice,  to  indicate  a  complete  propitiation.  It  stands  at 
the  head,  and  contains  the  sum  and  substance  of  all  sacrifice.  It  was 
accordingly  presented  not  only  by  the  individual  on  private  occasions, 
but  by  the  whole  nation  on  the  common  altar  every  morning  and 
evening,  and  formed  the  chief  and  central  sacrifice  in  all  the  annual 
solemnities  of  the  chosen  people. 

The  oblation  was  a  vegetable  offering,  chiefly  of  grain,  mostly  in  the 
form  of  flour,  and  occasionally  accompanied  with  oil  and  frankincense. 
In  most  sacrifices  it  was  also  associated  with  the  libation  of  wine, 
mentioned  elsewhere,  (Num.  xv.),  which  was  of  the  same  nature  and 
significance.  Like  the  fat  and  the  flesh  of  the  animal  sacrifice,  it 
represents  obedience  or  good  works,  and  therefore  it  is  made  a  fire- 
offering  of  a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord.  It  presupposes  the  burnt- 
sacrifice  of  propitiation,  on  the  ground  of  which  the  offerer  has 
already  been  accepted  (i.  4).     He  is  now  walking  with  God  and  all 


104  LAWS  OF  THE  OFFERINGS. 

his  well-meant  endeavors  are  accepted,  with  himself,  through  the  merits 
of  the  unblemished  Redeemer.  He  offers  his  oblation  in  token  of  his 
obligation  and  his  purpose  to  do  the  will  of  God.  The  oblation  of 
the  high-priest  every  morning  and  evening  has  a  peculiar  significance. 
He  represents  the  Mediator,  and  therefore  his  oblation  symbolizes 
the  obedience  or  righteousness  of  the  Mediator  himself.  Hence  it  is 
the  fitting  accompaniment  of  the  morning  and  evening  burnt-sacrifice. 

Tlie  sin-sacrifice  and  the  trespass-offering  are  properly  classed 
together.  Like  the  oblation  they  presume  the  offerer  to  have  been 
already  accepted  in  the  burnt-offering  of  propitiation,  and  now  to  l)e 
a  member  of  the  commonwealth  of  Israel  and  a  party  in  the  covenant 
of  grace.  While  his  full  purpose  is  to  endeavor  after  new  obedience, 
yet  sins  of  inadvertence  sometimes  intervene  to  mar  the  beauty  of  his 
work  and  disturb  the  peace  of  his  conscience.  The  sacrifices  now  in 
question  serve  to  represent  a  fresh  pleading  of  the  blood  of  sprinkhng 
and  of  the  unblemished  integrity  of  the  substitute  for  the  relief  of 
conscience,  the  deepening  of  humility,  the  perfecting  of  repentance, 
and  the  recovery  of  the  assurance  of  God's  love.  The  sin-sacrifice 
refers  mainly  to  the  wrong  done  to  the  Author  of  our  being,  and 
therefore  impressively  to  the  blood  of  expiation,  while  it  presupposes 
the  obedience  that  propitiates.  The  trespass-offering  looks  to  the 
right  that  ought  to  have  been  done,  and  lays  emphasis  on  the  positive 
satisfaction  which  magnifies  and  glorifies  the  law.  They  are  the  coun- 
terparts of  one  another,  and  together  make  up  that  which  is  signified 
by  the  burnt-sacrifice.  Hence  it  is  that  the  sinner  is  constantly  said 
to  be  a  trespasser,  and  the  trespasser  a  sinner  in  the  same  offence ;  and 
hence  these  two  offerings  are  often  made  at  the  same  time  for  the  one 
object. 

Tlie  consecration  is  the  filling  of  the  hands  of  the  priests  with  the 
things  to  be  offered.  This  was  the  simple  and  primitive  mode  of 
appointing  them  to  their  office.  Filling  the  hands  was,  however,  a 
wider  phrase,  as  it  applied  either  to  the  worshipper  providing  himself 
with  gifts  to  appear  before  the  Lord,  or  to  the  consecrator  putting  the 
gifts  to  be  offered  into  the  hands  of  the  priest  in  the  act  of  consecra- 
tion. This  ordinance  does  not  come  within  the  cycle  of  offerings 
contained  in  these  seven  chapters,  though  it  consists  of  a  number  of 
these,  and  especially  of  the  peace-offering.     The  proper  formulary  foi 


LEVITICUS  Vn.  37.  105 

it  is  contained  in  Ex.  xxix.,  and  forms  part  of  the  communications 
made  to  Moses  during  the  first  forty  days  he  was  on  the  mount.  This 
in  itself  afibrds  one  of  the  presumptions  in  favor  of  these  seven  chap- 
ters having  been  revealed  to  Moses  in  the  period  posterior  to  the 
idolatry  of  the  people,  and  the  pitching  of  the  tent  of  meeting  far  from 
the  camp,  and  prior  to  the  consecration  of  the  priests  and  the  dedication 
of  the  tabernacle.  The  only  allusion  to  this  ordinance  is  in  vi.  12-16, 
when  the  oblation  of  the  high-priest  to  be  presented  on  the  occasion 
of  his  consecration  and  thenceforward  every  morning  and  evening  is 
prescril>ed.  It  is  placed  here  after  the  sin  and  trespass  offerings,  and 
before  the  peace-offering,  because  the  ram  of  consecration,  which  gives 
character  to  the  consecrating  ordinance,  is  of  a  kindred  nature  with 
the  peace-offering,  and  forms  an  act  of  communion. 

The  sacrifice  of  peace  is  distinguished  by  the  feast  upon  the  sacri- 
fice which  indicates  participation  in  all  the  benefits  of  acceptance  with 
God  through  the  Redeemer.  Hence  in  a  wide  sense  it  includes  the 
passover  and  the  consecration  of  priests,  in  both  of  which  fellowship 
in  the  benefits  of  redemption  through  the  blood  of  atonement  is 
symbolized.  It  is,  then,  a  step  in  advance  of  the  burnt-sacrifice,  as 
fellowship  is  beyond  ^propitiation.  It  transcends  also  the  oblation  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  sin  and  trespass  offerings  on  the  other  hand,  aa 
fellowship  with  God  in  the  Mediator  is  something  beyond  the  imper- 
fect endeavors  of  the  accepted  soul  after  new  obedience.  Hence  we 
perceive  that  this  cycle  of  offerings  has  its  ground  in  the  hrstory  of 
redemption,  and  is  a  faithful  reflection  of  the  beginning,  progress,  and 
end  of  salvation  from  sin. 

In  these  remarkable  chapters  we  have  a  striking  example  of  the 
mode  of  composition  habitually  pursued  by  Moses.  As  in  the  last 
chapter  of  Exodus  he  j)ursues  his  stately  march  through  the  process 
of  the  solemn  erection  of  the  tabernacle,  without  allowing  himself  or 
his  reader  to  be  embarrassed  by  preliminary,  collateral,  or  consecutive 
details,  which  are  reserved  to  be  afterwards  inserted  at  convenience 
in  the  two  subsequent  books,  so  here,  in  the  first  five  chapters  he 
lays  down  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  several  offerings  for  the 
instruction  of  the  people,  and  reserves  for  the  sixth  and  seventh 
chapters  the  collateral  regulations  for  the  further  guidance  of  the 
priests.  When  we  consider  that  there  are  nine  separate  communica- 
14 


106  LAWS  OF  THE  OFFERINGS. 

tions  of  very  variable  lengths  in  these  seven  chapters,  we  cannot  but 
acknowledge  the  good  order  with  which  they  are  combined  into  a 
whole. 

38.  In  mount  Sinai.  This  appears  to  refer  to  the  tent  of  meeting, 
which  Moses  pitched  without  the  camp  on  the  slopes  of  Sinai.  (See 
on  i.  1.)  Otherwise  the  last  two  chapters  must  have  preceded  the 
former  five.  In  the  day.  On  the  occasion  of  the  erection  of  the 
tabernacle,  which,  with  the  consecration  of  the  priests,  occui^ied  seven 
preliminary  days,  and  was  consummated  on  the  eighth  day,  which  was 
the  first  day  of  the  second  year,  on  which  the  princes  of  the  tribes  of 
Israel  came  forward  to  make  their  offerings.  This  goes  to  prove 
that  these  chapters  were  made  known  by  Moses  to  the  people  shortly 
before  the  formal  setting  up  of  the  tabernacle.  In  the  wilderness  of 
Sinai.  The  present  regulations  apply  in  several  of  their  details  to 
the  encampment  in  the  wilderness,  a  state  of  things  which  might  have 
terminated  in  the  course  of  the  second  year.  They  will  at  all  events 
have  to  undergo  the  requisite  modifications  when  the  camp  and  the 
wilderness  pass  away.  Some  of  these  modifications  are  expressly 
ordered  in  the  subsequent  books  of  the  Pentateuch,  for  instance,  in 
Deut.  xii.  15.  Some  of  them  are  not  put  on  record,  though  they  must 
have  been  introduced  in  practice.  And  others  still  would  have  been 
made,  had  the  course  of  events  in  the  future  history  of  Israel  been 
different  from  what  it  actually  turned  out  to  be.  For  instance,  one 
central  plan  was  no  doubt  necessary  for  the  ark  of  God,  containing 
the  two  tables  of  the  testimony,  to  impress  upon  men's  minds  the  unity 
of  God  and  of  his  people.  But  this  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  erec- 
tion of  an  altar  and  a  sanctuary,  it  might  be  in  every  tribe  for  the 
convenience  of  mothers  and  children,  who  could  not  go  far  from  home 
(Lev.  xii.),  and  for  the  relief  of  the  metropolitan  sanctuary,  which 
would  otherwise  be  overcrowded  with  worshippers.  And  it  is  cer- 
tainly quite  in  keeping  with  the  worship  of  God  on  the  weekly 
Sabbath  in  the  meeting-place  of  every  village  or  township  in  all  the 
dwellings  of  the  people  (Lev.  xxiii.  3).  A  remarkable  intimation  of 
the  lawfulness  and  probability  in  certain  circumstances  of  establishing 
local  sanctuaries  is  found  at  the  very  close  of  the  moral  law,  and  at 
the  threshold  of  the  civil  code  (Ex.  xx.  24)  :  "  An  altar  of  earth  thou 
shalt  make  unto  me,  and  shalt  sacrifice  thereon  thy  burnt-sacrificea 


LEVITICUS  VII.  38.  107 

and  thy  peace-offerings,  thy  sheep  and  thy  oxen ;  in  every  place  where 
I  record  my  name  I  will  come  unto  thee  and  bless  thee."  This 
implies,  it  may  be,  successive  places ;  but  we  have  no  reason  what- 
ever to  exclude  simultaneous  places  of  sacrificial  worship  also  to  meet 
the  exigencies  of  a  wide-spreading  population.  The  groundless  hy- 
pothesis that  subordinate  details  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
desert  are,  or  are  intended  to  be,  stereotyped  for  all  future  stages  of 
the  history  of  God's  people,  is  a  fertile  source  of  stumbling  to  the  in- 
considerate, objection  for  the  sciolist,  and  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the 
easy  and  safe  interpretation  of  the  law. 

NOTES. 

13.  With  cakes,  r!hrr)i'S,  upon  cakes  of.  These  broad  round  cakes 
may  have  been  placed  under  the  properly  sacrificial  cakes  of  the 
previous  verse. 

18.  A  foul  thing,  b^as ,  Sept.  /u,iW/Aa.  The  word  occurs  elsewhere 
only  in  Lev.  xix.  7,  Isa.  Ixv.  4,  and  Ezek.  iv.  14,  and  it  is  well  to  dis- 
tinguish it  in  the  rendering  from  terms  of  kindred  meaning. 

21.  Loathsome  thing,  Yp;a .  This  form  occurs  about  ten  times,  of 
which  eight  are  in  Leviticus.      Crawler  or  creeper,  Y'!'^.  • 

30.  Wave,  tj-'Sn .  It  is  used  of  the  van  in  winnowing,  the  sieve  in 
sifting,  the  saw  in  cutting,  the  stick  in  beating,  the  hand  in  beckoning 
and  threatening.     A  waving,  fiSiiSt^ . 

32.  Leg,  pi^S  Sept.  ^Spa^tW,  the  fore-leg,  including  both  the  leg 
and  the  shoulder,  always  in  the  present  connection.  Onk.,  the  Syr., 
and  the  Arab,  retain  the  original  word ;  and  the  Latin  versions  of  these 
have  generally  armus,  but  occasionally  crus.  The  word  is  used  six 
times  of  the  human  leg,  Deut.  xxv.  35 ;  Judg.  xv.  8 ;  Ps.  cxlvii.  10 ; 
Prov.  xxvi.  7  ;  Cant.  v.  15  ;  Isa.  xlvii.  2.  Only  in  1  Sam.  ix.  24  is  it 
rendered  KwXe'a,  the  thigh-bone.  This,  indeed,  is  the  only  other  passage 
in  which  it  is  applied  to  an  animal.  Ar7n,  SJint,  is  applied  to  the 
fore-leg  of  animals  in  Num.  vi.  19  ;  Deut.  xviii.  3.  This  seems  to  be 
the  same  limb,  only  more  precisely  defined  by  a  term  borrowed  from 
the  human  form,  and  so  distinguished  from  the  hind-leg,  which  corres- 
ponds strictly  to  the  human  leg.  d':?'n3  seems  to  apply  to  the  two 
hind  legs  in  particular. 

35.  Portion,  nn'iri ,  ointment,  gift ;  r.  spread  over,  lay  on,  anoint. 
This  noun  is  rendered  in  Onk.  n!|="i,  increase  or  gift. 


SECTION  II.  — CONSECRATION  OF  THE.  PRIESTS. 


Vni.    AARON  AND  HIS  SONS  CONSECRATED. 

The  directions  concerning  the  raiment  and  the  consecration  of  the 
priests  are  given  in  Ex.  xsviii.  and  xxix.  The  execution  of  the  order 
concerning  the  raiment  is  recorded  in  Ex.  xxxix.  1-31.  The  re- 
mainder of  this  chapter  contains  the  announcement  that  the  work  of 
the  tabernacle,  having  been  completed,  was  presented  to  Moses.  The 
present  section  of  the  Book  of  Leviticus  contains  the  record  of  the 
consecration  of  the  priests,  and  the  solemn  events  that  accompanied 
that  ceremonial.  It  was  strongly  felt  by  the  rabbis  that  the  consecra- 
tion of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  which  lasted  seven  days,  must  have  pre- 
ceded the  formal  inauguration  of  the  national  worship  in  the  tabernacle. 
Hence  Rabbi  Salomo  affirms  that  the  consecration  here  narrated  took 
place  on  the  last  seven  days  of  the  first  year.  There  is  much  to  be 
said  in  favor  of  this  view.  It  would  be  preposterous  to  suppose  all 
the  offerings  of  the  princes  made  and  the  passover  celebrated  in  the 
first  month  before  the  consecration  of  the  priests.  And  it  would  be 
a  very  cumbrous  and  embarrassing  arrangement  to  have  the  offerings 
of  the  princes  and  the  consecration  of  the  priests  going  on  with  equal 
pace  during  the  first  seven  or  eight  days  of  the  first  month.  And  the 
fire  from  the  Lord  consuming  the  sacrifices,  which  is  the  closing  event 
of  the  eighth  day  (ix.  24),  fits  in  very  well  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
filling  the  tabernacle  when  the  process  of  erecting  it  was  completed 
(Ex.  xl.  34).  Moreover,  the  princes  are  said  to  come  forward  to  offer 
on  the  day  on  which  Moses  finished  setting  up  the  tabernacle  (Num. 
vii.  1),  which  implies  that  the  setting  up  had  occupied  several  days. 
Other  coincidences  will  present  themselves  to  the  attentive  reader; 
and  we  have  now  only  to  add  that  the  narrative  is  not  inconsistent 
with  this  arrangement.  "We  may  suppose  that  the  command  to  have 
the  tabernacle  erected  on  the  first  day  of  the  new  year  was  given  to 


LEVITICUS  YIII. 


109 


Moses  at  the  time  when  the  priestly  attire  and  all  the  parts  and 
properties  of  the  tabernacle  had  been  presented  before  him.  This 
may  have  been  eight  or  ten  days  before  the  end  of  the  first  year 
About  the  same  time  the  order  to  consecrate  the  priests  was  issued, 
as  the  necessary  preliminary  to  the  opening  of  the  tabernacle  service. 
This  order  required  a  period  of  seven  days  for  its  due  execution.  On 
receiving  it,  therefore,  Moses  proceeds  to  convene  the  assembly  at 
the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  The  tent  of  meeting  must  have  been 
so  far  constructed  as  to  admit  of  this  locality  being  fixed  for  the  con- 
vocation. "We  are  not  to  suppose,  with  some  of  the  rabbis,  that  the 
tabernacle  was  set  up  and  taken  down  every  day  of  the  seven  during 
which  the  consecration  of  the  priests  was  going  on ;  though,  as  it  was 
a  tent  designed  to  be  moved  from  place  to  place,  and  therefore  fre- 
quently taken  down  and  set  up  again,  the  supposition  is  not  absurd. 
In  the  absence  of  any  record  we  cannot  tell  how  the  matter  was  actu- 
ally arranged.  But  we  see  no  reason  why  Bezalel  might  not  present 
the  tabernacle  with  all  its  parts  put  together  in  due  form,  or,  what  is 
no  less  probable,  why  Moses,  with  the  assistance  of  the  master  and 
his  craftsmen,  might  not  once  for  all  set  it  up  as  far  as  was  necessary 
for  the  consecration  of  the  priests.  On  the  former  supposition,  we 
may  conceive  that  Bezalel  would  take  the  tent  to  pieces  that  it  might 
be  formally  erected  again  by  Moses.  The  latter  hypothesis  is  not 
inconsistent  with  the  statement  of  Ex.  xl,  17 :  "And  it  came  to  pass, 
in  the  first  month,  in  the  second  year,  on  the  first  day  of  the  month, 
that  the  tabernacle  was  set  up."  This  implies  that  the  solemn  pitching 
of  the  tabernacle  was  completed  on  that  day.  And  the  following 
verses  (18  sq.)  then  merely  describe  the  process,  which  may  have 
been  commenced  some  days  before.  This  view  is  also  favored  by 
the  statement  of  Ex.  xxix.  36,  37 :  "  And  thou  shalt  offer  every  day 
a  bullock  of  sin-offering  for  atonement;  and  thou  shalt  purge  the 
altar,  when  thou  atonest  for  it,  and  shalt  anoint  it  to  hallow  it.  Seven 
days  shalt  thou  atone  for  the  altar,  and  hallow  it."  Hence  it  appears 
that  the  seven  days  of  consecration  were,  at  the  same  time,  seven  days 
of  hallowment  or  dedication  of  the  altar.  This  gives  a  new  significance 
and  comprehensiveness  to  these  seven  days ;  as  they  apply  not  only 
to  the  priests,  but  to  the  tabernacle  and  its  sacred  furniture.  It  also 
speaks  very  strongly  for  the  consecration  of  the  priests  being  prelim- 


110  AARON  AND  HIS  SONS  CONSECRATED. 

VIII.    1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  Take 

Aaron  and  liis  sons  with  him,  and  the  garments,  and  the 

anointing  oil,  and  the  bullock  of  sin-gacrifice,  and  the  two 


inary  to  the  inauguration  of  the  tabernacle  service.  If  the  altar  must 
be  purged  seven  days  before  it  is  fit  for  the  solemn  worship  of  God, 
must  not  tliis  have  taken  place  before  the  formal  opening  of  the  daily 
service,  and  the  long  succession  of  inaugural  offerings  to  be  made  by 
the  princes  of  the  tribes  ?  It  is  befitting  the  grandeur  and  sacredness 
of  the  occasion  that  the  successive  steps  in  the  formal  erection  of  the 
tabernacle  should  not  be  crowded  into  a  single  day,  but  extended  over 
the  period  of  seven  days,  a  number  not  only  of  suitable  magnitude,  but 
of  hereditary  sacredness.  It  may  be  added  that  this  view  goes  to 
confirm  the  conclusion  that  the  preceding  seven  chapters  were  com- 
municated at  a  still  earlier  period. 

The  present  section  contains  three  chapters :  the  first  recording  the 
consecration  of  the  priests  and  the  sanctifying  of  the  tabernacle,  and 
especially  the  altar;  the  second,  the  inauguration  of  the  national 
worship  on  the  first  day  of  the  new  year ;  and  the  third,  the  occur- 
rence of  a  melancholy  event  on  the  occasion,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  details  that  are  necessary  to  complete  the  previous  chapter. 

The  eighth  chapter  reports  the  consecration  of  Aaron  and  his  two 
sons.  It  contains  the  arraying  of  the  priests  and  the  anointing  of 
them  and  of  the  tabernacle  (1-13),  and  the  consecration  of  the  priests 
(14-36).  The  latter  may  be  subdivided  into  the  sin-sacrifice  (14-17), 
the  burnt-sacrifice  (18-21),  and  the  ram  of  consecration  (22-3G). 

1-13.  The  arraying  of  the  priests  and  the  anointing  of  the  taber- 
nacle, of  the  furniture,  and  of  the  high  priest.  This  command  is  given 
to  Moses  after  Bezalel  had  finished  his  work,  and  presented  it  all 
before  him.  2.  Talce  Aaron.  He  is  thus  called  of  God  to  be  a  priest. 
This  divine  appointment  assures  the  people  of  acceptance  through 
his  mediation.  And  his  sons  with  Mm.  This  secures  the  succession 
not  of  one  line,  but  of  the  whole  family,  and  provides  the  high-priest 
with  duly  qualified  assistants  in  his  work.  And  the  garments,  which 
Bezalel  and  his  craftsmen  have  now  prepared  (Ex.  xxxix.).  And  the 
anointing  oil.     The  directions  for  the  composition  of  this  oil  are  given 


LEVITICUS  VIII.   1-7.  Ill 

rams,  and  the  basket  of  sweet  bread.  3.  And  gather  all  the 
assembly  unto  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  4.  And 
Moses  did  as  the  Lord  commanded  him :  and  the  assembly- 
was  gathered  unto  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  5.  And 
Moses  said  unto  the  assembly,  This  is  the  thing  which  the 
Lord  hath  commanded  to  do.  6.  And  Moses  presented  Aaron 
and  his  sons  and  washed  them  with  water.     7.  And  he  put 

in  Ex.  XXX.  22-33,  which  is  a  part  of  the  communication  made  to 
Moses  on  the  mount.  From  this  passage  we  learn  that  the  tabernacle 
with  its  furniture,  and  Aaron  and  his  sons  were  to  be  anointed  with 
it.  Moses,  of  course,  had  it  prepared  by  the  perfumer.  And  the 
bullock.  This  and  the  two  rams  and  the  basket  of  sweet  bread  are  all 
prescribed  in  Ex.  xxix.  3.  And  gather  all  the  assembly.  This  con- 
secration was  to  be  pubHc,  that  the  whole  congregation  might  be 
aware  that  the  priests  had  been  duly  appointed  to  their  office.  The 
assembly  consisted  of  the  adult  men  of  twenty  years  old  and  upward. 
It  was  the  lawfully  constituted  convention  of  the  nation.  When 
regularly  summoned,  those  who  were  present  formed  a  lawful  assembly. 
Those  who  were  absent,  including  the  women  and  minors,  would  learn 
the  event  from  those  who  were  present.  Unto  the  door  of  the  tent  of 
meeting,  where  the  altar  stood,  in  the  rear  and  by  the  sides  of  which 
the  people  would  stand  at  a  respectful  distance.  "We  cannot  tell 
whether  the  hangings  of  the  court  were  yet  put  up.  But  only  the 
slaves  ■  of  a  narrow  literalism  can  suppose  the  whole  people  to  be 
present  to  a  man  at  any  public  meeting.  The  tent  of  meeting  was 
the  place  where  God  met  with  man.  4.  Moses  obeys,  and  convenes 
the  meeting.  5.  He  explains  what  is  about  to  be  done,  that  the 
assembly  may  be  intelligent  witnesses.  The  obedience  of  man  to 
God  is  a  reasonable  service.  6.  Presented.  This  is  the  word  usually 
rendered  "  offered."  It  means,  literally,  "  brought  near."  And  washed 
them,  according  to  the  directions  in  Ex.  xxxix.  4.  The  washing  with 
water  is  a  symbol  of  internal  cleansing  or  sanctification.  This  washing 
was  performed  at  the  laver,  which  stood  between  the  altar  and  the 
door  of  the  tabernacle.  See  on  Ex.  xxix.  4.  7.  Moses  now  arrays 
Aaron  with  the  robes  of  the  high-priesthood.     The  coat  and  girdle 


112  AAEON  AND  HIS  SONS  CONSECRATED. 

upon  liim  the  coat  and  girded  him  with  the  girdle,  and  clothed 
him  with  the  robe,  and  put  upon  him  the  ephod,  and  girded 
him  with  the  belt  of  the  ephod,  and  bound  it  with  it.  8.  And 
he  put  upon  him  the  breast-plate,  and  set  in  the  breast-plate 
the  Urim  and  the  Tummim.  9.  And  he  put  the  mitre  on  his 
head,  and  put  upon  the  mitre  on  his  forehead  the  golden  plate, 

are  mentioned  in  Ex.  xxviii.  40 ;  xxxix.  27-29.  The  coat  was  the 
inner  garment,  worn  over  the  shirt  and  reaching  to  the  feet.  The 
robe  and  the  ephod,  ^ith  its  belt,  are  described  in  Ex.  xxviii,  31-35, 
6-12,  and  explained  in  the  remarks  on  these  passages.  The  robe  is 
entirely  of  blue,  and  on  the  skirt  of  it  were  pomegranates  of  blue  and 
purple  and  crimson,  alternating  with  bells  of  gold.  It  reached  to  the 
knee.  It  was  worn  over  the  coat.  The  ephod  with  its  belt  covered 
the  back  down  to  the  waist.  On  the  shoulder-straps  of  it  were  at- 
tached two  onyx  stones,  set  in  gold,  and  having  each  six  of  the  names 
of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  engraven  on  it.  8.  The  breast-plate. 
The  robe,  the  ephod,  and  the  breast-plate  were  the  three  pieces  of 
dress  peculiar  to  the  high-priest.  The  breast-plate  covered  the  breast, 
as  the  ephod  did  the  back,  and  was  fastened  to  it  by  laces.  Tlie 
Urim  and  the  Tummim,  the  Lights  and  the  Rights,  or  perfections,  are 
the  twelve  precious  stones,  fitted  in  a  case  and  placed  in  the  breast- 
plate, having  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes  engraven  on  them.  9. 
The  mitre  and  the  golden  plate,  the  holy  crown,  on  which  was  engraven 
the  words,  Holiness  to  the  Lord,  are  described  in  Ex.  xxviii.  36-39. 
For  the  details  of  the  explanation  of  the  priestly  attire,  we  refer  to 
Ex.  xxviii.  Suffice  it  to  say  here  that  the  coat  shadowed  forth  the 
hoHness,  and  the  robe  the  righteousness,  of  the  high-priest.  The 
ephod  bearing  the  onyx  stones  on  the  shoulder-straps,  with  the  breast- 
plate containing  the  Urim  and  the  Tummim,  is  symbolic  of  the  priestly 
function.  He  bears  the  people  on  his  shoulders  as  the  propitiator, 
taking  upon  him  their  responsibilities,  and  on  his  breast  as  the  inter-, 
cessor  pleading  their  cause.  Each  stone  in  the  breast-i^late  is  a  light 
and  a  right,  and  all  together  are  emblematic  of  the  complete  light  and 
righteousness,  or  illuminating  and  propitiating  virtue  of  the  great 
High  Priest.     The  holy  crown,  with  its  legible  and  intelligible  motto, 


LEVITICUS  VIII.  8-13.  II3 

the  holy  crown  ;  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses.  10.  And 
Moses  took  the  anointing  oil,  and  anointed  the  tabernacle  and 
all  that  was  therein,  and  sanctified  them.  11.  And  he  spat- 
tered thereof  upon  the  altar  seven  times,  and  anointed  the 
altar  and  all  its  vessels,  and  the  laver  and  its  stand,  to  sanc- 
tify them.  12.  And  he  poured  of  the  anointing  oil  upon 
Aaron's  head,  and  anointed  him,  to  sanctify  him.  13.  And 
Moses  presented  Aaron's  sons,  and  clothed  them  with  coats 
and  girded  them  with  a  girdle,  and  bound  bonnets  upon  them ; 
as  tlie  Lord  commanded  Moses. 


indicates  the  holiness  and  authority  which  appertain  to  the  royal 
Priest.  And  in  their  correlation  the  stones  on  the  shoulder  specially 
denote  the  priestly,  those  on  the  breast-plate  the  prophetic,  and  the 
golden  plate  on  the  forehead  the  kingly,  function  of  the  Mediator. 

10-12  The  anointing  (Ex.  xxix.  7).  The  unction  is  typical  of 
sanctification  (1  John  ii.  20).  The  tabernacle,  the  altar,  the  laver, 
and  all  their  appurtenances  were  to  be  anointed  (Ex.  xxx.  26-29). 
And  sanctified  them.  Sanctifying  is  here  setting  apart  to  a  holy  use. 
It  is  the  symbol  of  internal  or  moral  sanctification.  It  is  here  de- 
scribed as  the  effect  of  the  anointing.  11.  And  he  spattered  thereof. 
The  mode  of  anointing  is  here  indicated.  The  seven  times  are  sig- 
nificant of  the  perfection  of  holiness  which  is  to  belong  to  the  altar. 
12.  And  he  poured.  On  Aaron's  head  the  anointing  oil  is  not  spattered 
but  poured,  so  that  it  trickled  down  his  beard  and  reached  to  the 
skirt  of  his  garment  (Ps.  cxxxiii.).  This  indicates  the  plenitude  of 
holiness  which  is  to  be  in  the  high-priest.  And  anointed  him  to 
sanctify  him.  This  is  the  constant  phrase  to  denote  the  effect  of 
anointing.  13.  The  coats,  girdles,  and  bonnets  of  the  ordinary  priests 
are  then  put  on.  Aaron's  sons  may,  in  Scripture  phrase,  include  grand- 
sons, if  any  of  them  were  of  the  proper  age.  The  silence  of  Scripture 
regarding  them  is  not  a  proof  to  the  contrary  effect.  As  the  Lord 
commanded  3Ioses.  The  whole  ceremonial  is  a  divine  institution  and 
derives  all  its  authority  and  all  its  significance  from  this  fact.  Hence 
the  writer  is  careful  to  note  this  circumstance.  Rites  of  human  in- 
stitution have  no  authority  or  valid  significance. 


114  AARON  AND  HIS  SONS  CONSECRATED. 

14.  And  he  brought  nigh  the  bullock  of  the  sin-sacrifice ; 
and  Aaron  and  his  sons  laid  their  hands  on  the  head  of  the 
bullock  of  sin-sacrifice.  15.  And  he  slew  it ;  and  Moses  took 
the  blood  and  put  it  on  the  horns  of  the  altar  around,  and 

14-36.  The  consecration.  This  begins  with  the  sin-sacrifice 
14—17.  (See  on  Ex.  xxix.  10—14).  And  he  brought  nigh.  Some 
one  did  this  on  behalf  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  who  are  the  offerers  in 
this  case.  The  bullock  of  sin-sacrijice.  When  the  children  of  God, 
already  accepted  through  the  one  coming  propitiation,  appear  before 
him  on  solemn  occasions  it  is  meet  to  present  the  sin-sacrifice  for  such 
sin  of  inadvertence  as  they  may  have  contracted.  Hence,  on  the  con- 
secration of  the  priestly  family  the  sin-sacrifice  is  presented  first  to 
set  them  right  in  the  view  of  the  law  for  the  coming  solemnity. 
Aaron  and  his  sons,  as  the  offerers  laid  their  hands  on  the  head  of 
the  victim  in  due  form.  Moses  is  here  the  officiating  priest,  by  the 
command  of  the  Lord.  15.  And  he  slew  it.  Some  one  of  or  for 
Aaron  and  his  sons  performed  this  part.  And  Moses  tooh.  The  acts 
proper  to  the  officiating  priest  are  carefully  distinguished  from  those 
which  are  performed  by  the  worshipper  or  his  assistant.  The  blood 
that  expiates.  On  the  horns.  These  are  more  elevated  than  the 
sides  of  the  altar.  The  place  of  application  is  more  solemn,  in  keep- 
ing with  the  pre-eminent  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  though  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  blood  is  the  same.  The  ritual  here  agrees  with  Ex. 
xxix.  12  ;  and  though  it  differs  from  Lev.  iv.  6,  7,  it  agrees  with 
Lev.  iv.  25,  30.  The  actual  fact  of  a  known  sin  of  inadvertence  in 
the  high-priest  is  more  pregnant  with  evil  consequences  than  in  an 
ordinary  member  of  the  sacred  community,  or  than  the  possibility  of 
an  inadvertent  sin  which  is  unknown  and  unproved.  And  sanctified 
it  to  atone  for  it.^^  We  are  to  notice  the  distinction  between  this 
sentence  and  "anointed  to  sanctify."  The  latter  points  to  sanctifi- 
cation  as  the  end,  the  former  to  propitiation.  Sanctification  and  pro- 
pitiation, though  perfectly  distinct,  go  hand  in  hand.  The  application 
of  the  blood  implies  sanctification,  because  in  this  application  the 
sinner  lays  his  hand  on  the  victim,  which  act  involves  a  change  of 
mind.     The  blood  itself  effects  the  atonement.     The  latter  phrase 


LEVITICUS  YIII.  16-21.  1|5 

purged  the  altar,  and  poured  the  blood  at  the  foot  of  the  altar, 
and  sanctified  it,  to  atone  for  it.  16,  And  he  took  all  the  fat 
that  was  upon  the  inwards,  and  the  caul  of  the  liver,  and  ihe 
two  kidneys,  and  their  fat,  and  Moses  burned  it  upon  the  altar. 
17.  But  the  bullock,  and  its  hide,  its  flesh,  and  its  dung,  he 
burned  with  fire  without  the  camp ;  as  the  Lord  commanded 
Moses. 

18.  And  he  presented  the  ram  of  burnt-sacrifice  ;  and  Aaron 
and  his  sons  laid  their  hands  on  the  head  of  the  ram.  19. 
And  he  slew  it ;  and  Moses  sprinkled  the  blood  on  the  altar 
around.  20,  And  the  ram  he  cut  into  its  pieces ;  and  Moses 
burned  the  head  and  the  pieces  and  the  fat.  21.  And  the  in- 
wards and  legs  he  washed  with  water  :  and  Moses  burned  the 
whole  ram  upon  the  altar  :  it  was  a  burnt-sacrifice  for  a  sweet 
smell,  a  fire-offering  unto  the  Lord  ;  as  the  Lord  commanded 
Moses. 

here  might  be  rendered  "  to  atone  upon  it,"  and  yield  a  good  meaning. 
But  the  context  favors  the  former  rendering.  1 6.  This  is  in  accordance 
with  the  ritual  of  the  sin-sacrifice  (iv.  8-10),  17.  This  corresponds 
with  iv,  11,  12.  Ho  hurned.  The  worshipper  or  his  attendant  re- 
moved the  carcass  to  the  place  of  ashes,  and  there  it  was  burned  to 
ashes  as  an  accursed  thing.  The  burning  here  represents  penal  death. 
18-21,  The  ram  of  burnt-sacrifice,  (See  on  Ex,  xxix,  15-18). 
And  he  presented.  The  offerer  or  one  on  his  behalf.  The  ram  of 
hurnt-sacrijice.  As  the  bullock  has  been  offered  for  a  sin-sacrifice,  a 
ram  is  ordered  for  a  burnt-sacrifice.  As  the  former  gave  prominence 
to  expiation,  this  brings  out  propitiation  and  shadows  forth  and  here 
brings  to  remembrance  the  one  great  atonement  on  which  salvation 
rests.  It  is  here  offered  by  Aaron  and  his  sons  for  themselves,  as 
sinful  men  needing  an  atonement,  to  obtain  legal  acceptance  with 
God,  Moses,  it  is  still  to  be  remembered,  is  now  the  officiating 
priest  and  mediator.  And  he  slew.  One  of  the  offerers  or  of  their 
attendants  here  acts  (vs.  20,  21).  The  whole  process  is  in  accordance 
with  the  directions  in  chap.  i. 


116  AAEON  AND  HIS  SONS  CONSECRATED. 

22.  And  he  presented  the  second  ram,  the  ram  of  consecra- 
tion :  and  Aaron  and  his  sons  laid  their  hands  on  the  head  of 
the  ram.  23.  And  he  slew  it ;  and  Moses  took  of  its  Wood 
and  put  upon  the  tip  of  Aaron's  right  ear  and  upon  the  thumb 
of  his  right  hand  and  upon  the  great  toe  of  his  right  foot.  24. 
And  he  presented  Aaron's  sons,  and  Moses  put  of  the  blood  ■ 
upon  the  tip  of  their  right  ear  and  upon  the  thumb  of  their 
right  hand  and  upon  the  great  toe  of  their  right  foot ;  and 
Moses  sprinkled  the  blood  upon  the  altar  around.  25.  And 
he  took  the  fat  and  the  tail,  and  all  the  fat  that  was  upon  the 
inwards,  and  the  caul  of  the  liver,  and  the  two  kidneys  and 

22-36.  The  ram  of  consecration.  (See  on  Ex.  xxix.  19-37.)  The 
place  usually  assigned  to  the  sacrifice  of  peace  is  here  given  to  the 
ram  of  consecration.  This  means  the  ram  of  fillings,  because  now  for 
the  first  time  the  hands  of  Aaron  and  his  sons  are  filled  with  that 
which  is  afterwards  placed  on  the  altar.  It  is  therefore  in  all 
respects  a  sacrifice  of  felloAvship  and  peace.  For  they  not  only  now 
officiate  as  priests,  but  partake  afterwards  of  the  sacrificial  flesh.  23. 
Put  upon  the  tip  of  Aaron^s  rigid  ear.  The  blood  of  consecration  is 
now  applied  to  Aaron.  The  right  side  is  the  seat  of  activity.  The 
ear,  the  hand,  and  the  foot  are  organs  intimately  connected  with  in- 
telligence, will,  and  power.  By  the  ear  we  hear  and  understand ;  by 
the  hands  and  feet  we  obey  the  will.  The  application  of  blood  to  these 
organs  denotes  the  expiation  of  guilt  in  thought,  act,  and  movement, 
in  order  that  the  expiated  person  may  consecrate  all  the  faculties  of 
mind  and  capacities  of  body  to  the  service  of  God.  24.  And  he  pre- 
sented Aaron's  sons.  We  are  not  informed  who  presented  them.  The 
Sept.  supposes  Moses.  It  may  have  been  the  minister  of  Moses,  or 
one  of  the  elders  of  the  tribe  of  Levi.  The  blood  of  expiation  is  in 
like  manner  applied  to  them.  It  is  then  sprinkled  on  the  altar,  the 
place  of  expiation. 

25-29.  The  filling  of  the  hands,  or  consecration  proper.  In  the 
order  of  directions  given  to  Moses  (Ex.  xxix.  21)  the  spattering  of 
the  blood  and  the  oil  upon  Aaron  and  his  sons  is  set  dgwn  before  this 


LEVITICUS  VIII.   25-28.  117 

26.  And  out  of  the  basket  of 
sweet  bread  that  was  before  the  Lord  he  took  one  sweet  cake 
and  one  cake  of  oiled  bread  and  one  wafer,  and  put  upon  the 
fat  and  upon  the  right  leg.  27.  And  he  put  the  whole  upon 
the  hands  of  Aaron  and  on  the  hands  of  his  sons,  and  made 
them  a  waving  before  the  Lord.  28.  And  Moses  took  them 
from  their  hands,  and  burned  them  on  the  altar  upon  the 
burnt-sacrifice :  they  are  a  consecration  for  a  sweet  smell,  a 

act.  In  the  order  of  narrative  here  it  is  placed  after  it.  As  there  is 
no  obvious  reason  for  a  transposition  of  the  narrative  we  take  the 
order  here  for  that  of  actual  occurrence.  In  Exodus  the  legislator, 
we  may  presume,  speaking  of  the  blood  in  the  previous  verse  com- 
pletes what  he  has  to  say  about  it  before  proceeding  to  another  topic. 
But  in  practice,  as  the  oil  and  the  blood  had  been  just  before  applied 
to  the  priests,  it  was  natural  that  an  intervening  ceremony  should 
take  place  before  a  second  application  of  the  same  elements.  Besides, 
as  all  the  blood  seems  to  have  been  sprinkled  on  the  altar,  some  time 
must  be  allowed  for  it  to  drip  into  a  vessel  in  which  it  might  be 
gathered  for  this  other  purpose.  And,  moreover,  a  new  meaning 
comes  out  for  this  second  application  of  blood  and  fat  as  soon  as  the 
priests  are  installed  in  their  office,  but  not  before.  25.  A7id  the  right  leg. 
This  is  the  priest's  portion  of  the  peace-offering  (vii.  32),  and  hence 
we  learn  that  this  is,  in  fact,  a  sacrifice  of  peace.  As  the  priest,  how- 
ever, is  in  this  case  the  offerer,  the  right  leg  is  burned  upon  the  altar 
according  to  the  principle  of  vi.  16.  26.  One  of  each  of  the  three 
sorts  of  cakes  is  placed  upon  the  fat  and  the  right  leg.  27.  Put  the 
whole  upon  the  hands.  This  is  the  solemn  filling  of  the  hands  of 
Aaron  and  his  sous,  whereby  they  are  instituted  into  their  office.  And 
made  them  a  waving.  The  waving  was  accomplished  by  Moses  plac- 
ing his  hands  beneath  those  of  the  designated  priests  and  waving  them 
to  and  fro  with  that  which  was  laid  upon  them.  It  denotes  the  com- 
munion of  the  priests  with  Moses  in  this  solemn  act,  and  of  both 
parties  with  God.  28-  And  Moses  took  them.  That  which  was  waved 
usually  went  to  the  priests  instead  of  being  burnt  upon  the  altar. 
But  in  this  great  act  of  initiation  the  memorial  cakes,  which  always 


118  AARON  AND  HIS  SONS  CONSECRATED. 

fire-offering  unto  the  Lord.  29.  And  Moses  took  the  breast, 
and  made  it  a  waving  before  the  Lord :  of  the  ram  of  cons© 
cration  it  was  the  part  of  Moses ;  as  the  Lord  commanded 
Moses. 

30.  And  Moses  took  of  the  anointing  oil  and  of  the  blood 
which  was  upon  the  altar,  and  spattered  upon  Aaron,  upon 
his  garments,  and  on  his  sons,  and  on  the  garments  of  his  sons 

go  on  the  altar,  are  waved  along  with  the  right  leg.  And  the  latter, 
which  was  given  to  the  priests,  is  on  this  occasion  consumed  on  the 
altar,  because  the  ram  of  consecration  was  a  priest's  offering  according 
to  vi.  16.  Uj)on  the  whole  sacrijice.  This  represented  the  one  great 
real  propitiation,  on  which  is  founded  all  just  and  true  fellowship 
with  God,  of  which  the  peace-offering  was  the  emblem.  This  com- 
pletes the  filling  of  the  hands  by  which  the  priests  were  inducted  into 
their  office.  29.  The  breast.  This  is  the  peculiar  portion  of  the 
Lord  in  the  peace-offering  (vii.  30),  which  is  given  over  to  the  priests. 
In  the  present  instance  it  falls  to  Moses  as  the  consecrating  priest. 
As  the  Lord  commanded  3foses.  We  observe  how  carefully  this  is 
noted  on  every  suitable  occasion.  In  this  case  it  has  the  additional 
effect  of  showing  that  he  did  not  appropriate  this  part  of  his  own 
accord. 

30-36.  The  completion  of  the  consecration.  Now  that  the  blood 
of  expiation  has  been  sprinkled  and  the  fat  of  propitiation  has  been 
burned  on  the  altar,  between  Avhich  the  solemn  act  of  filling  the  hands 
has  intervened,  Moses  takes  of  the  anointing  oil  and  of  the  blood  upon 
the  altar,  and  spatters  upon  Aaron  and  his  sons  and  their  garments. 
This  is  a  significant  act.  When  they  were  merely  designated  to  the 
priesthood  the  oil  and  the  blood  were  applied  that  they  might  be 
morally  and  legally  qualified  for  consecration.  But  now  the  blood 
has  been  sprinkled  on  the  altar  and  trickled  down  into  the  receptacle 
prepared  for  it  on  this  occasion.  It  has  therefore  now  made  the 
expiation.  And  Aaron  and  his  sons  have  been  formally  introduced 
into  the  priestly  office,  and  authorized  to  perform  its  functions.  And 
hence  the  blood  of  expiation  and  the  oil  of  sanctification  are  once 
more  applied  to  them  and  to  their  garments  in  token  of  their  complete 


LEVITICUS  YIII.    30,  33.  119 

with  him,  and  sanctified  Aaron,  his  garments,  and  his  sons 
and  the  garments  of  his  sons  with  him.  31.  And  Moses  said 
unto  Aaron  and  to  his  sons,  Boil  the  flesh  at  the  door  of  the 
tent  of  meeting  and  there  eat  it,  and  the  bread  that  is  in  the 
basket  of  consecration ;  as  I  have  commanded,  saying,  Aaron 
and  his  sons  shall  eat  it.  32.  And  that  which  remaineth  of 
the  flesh  and  of  the  bread  shall  ye  burn  with  fire.     33.  And 

qualification  as  invested  priests  for  their  sacred  and  sublime  part. 
This  repeated  application,  while  it  expresses  their  typical  fitness  for 
the  functions  of  a  ceremonial  service,  indicates  at  the  same  time  with 
equal  emphasis  their  personal  unfitness  to  accomplish  the  task  of  a 
real  mediator.  The  true  mediator  must  need  no  propitiation  or  sanc- 
tification  for  himself;  in  other  words,  he  must  need  no  mediator.  He 
must  be  holy  in  nature  and  in  life  as  the  moral  condition  of  his  com- 
petence to  make  reconciliation  for  others.  31.  Boil  the  jlesh.  After 
the  solemn  lustration  comes  the  crowning  privilege  of  full  communion 
with  God.  The  ram  of  consecration  is  truly  a  sacrifice  of  peace. 
Hence  the  flesh  is  to  be  prepared  for  the  sacrificial  meal.  At  the  door 
of  the  tent  of  meeting.  It  is  a  holy  meal  to  be  partaken  of  in  the  holy 
place.  Hie  basket  of  consecration,  in  which  the  remaining  cakes  of 
consecration  are  contained.  As  I  have  commanded,  saying.  Moses 
here  speaks  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  according  to  Ex.  xxix.  32  He 
himself  has  no  part  in  that  which  belongs  to  the  offerer ;  but  he  has 
the  breast  which  falls  to  the  consecrator.  32.  That  which  remaineth 
is  to  be  burnt  with  fire,  as  in  the  peace-offering  (vii.  17)  ;  but  on  the 
next  day  after  it  is  offered.  33.  Ye  shall  not  go  forth.  They  were 
not  to  leave  the  court  of  the  tabernacle  day  or  night  during  seven 
days.  It  is  manifest  that  shelter  and  other  conveniences  for  refresh- 
ment and  repose  must  have  been  provided  in  some  part  of  the  court, 
which  was  now  manifestly  marked  out  and  enclosed.  Seven  days 
shall  he  fill  your  hands.  Seven  is  the  number  of  the  covenant,  of 
completeness  and  consecration.  34.  As  he  hath  done  this  day.  "  He  " 
is  used,  without  more  exact  definition,  to  denote  the  Lord,  who  by  his 
servant  Moses  effects  their  consecration.  This  filling  of  hands,  it 
appears  from  these  statements,  is  to  be  repeated  on  each  of  the  seven 


120  AARON  AND  HIS  SONS  CONSECRATED. 

from  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting  ye  shall  not  go  forth  for 
seven  days,  until  the  end  of  the  days  of  your  consecration  ;  for 
seven  days  shall  he  fill  your  hand.  34.  As  he  hath  done  this 
day,  the  Lord  hatli  commanded  to  do  to  atone  for  you.  35. 
And  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting  ye  shall  abide  day  and 
night  seven  days,  and  keep  the  charge  of  the  Lord,  and  ye 
shall  not  die :  for  so  I  am  commanded.  36.  And  Aaron  and 
his  sons  did  all  things  which  the  Lord  commanded  by  the 
hand  of  Moses.  26    §  §  § 

days.  This  accords  with  Ex.  xxix.  36,  where  a  bullock  of  sin-sacrifice 
is  prescribed  for  every  day.  If  the  sin-sacrifice  and  the  consecration 
ram  are  to  be  repeated  every  day  the  same  rule  will  also  apply  to  the 
ram  of  burnt-sacrifice.  All  this  imparts  a  profound  solemnity  to  the 
occasion.  35.  At  the  door.  This  fixes  the  place.  Dai/  and  night. 
This  is  explicit  as  to  the  time  of  service.  Keep  the  charge,  discharge 
all  the  priestly  functions  necessary  during  this  preliminary  period. 
And  ye  shall  not  die.  This  means  that  these  duties  must  be  exactly 
fulfilled,  lest  death  by  the  special  visitation  of  God  be  the  consequence. 
For  so  lam  commanded.  This  sevenfold  repetition  of  the  inaugural 
service  demands  a  divine  warrant.  At  the  same  time  it  teaches  most 
distinctly  and  emphatically  the  inherent  imperfection  of  the  Levitical 
priesthood.  A  sacrifice  having  atoning  validity  needs  no  reiteration  ; 
and  the  sevenfold  repetition  only  serves  the  more  clearly  to  point  to 
a  propitiation  and  a  propitiator  that  will  be  perfect.  36.  This  verse 
puts  on  record  the  uniform  diligence  of  Aaron  and  his  sons. 


15.  Atone  for  it,  V^S  1Q3 .  The  latter  word  might  be  rendered 
"  upon  it,"  if  it  suited  the  context.  But  it  does  not  suit  here  or  in 
Ex.  xxix.  36,  37. 


LEVITICUS  IX.  1.  121 


IX.    THE  OPENING  OF  THE  TABERNACLE  SERVICE. 

IX.  1.  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  eighth  day,  that  Moses 
called  Aaron  and  liis  sons  and  the  elders  of  Israel.     2.  And  he 

On  an  attentive  examination  of  the  fortieth  chapter  of  Exodus,  with 
an  endeavor  to  realize  in  imagination  the  actualities  of  the  scene  de- 
scribed, we  shall  come  to  the  conclusion  that  both  the  order  given  in 
the  first  fifteen  verses  and  the  execution  of  it  in  the  remainder  of  the 
chapter  are  of  the  nature  of  a  summary  of  events  that  may  occupy 
several  days.  In  vs.  31,  32  the  narrative  even  passes  from  the  actual 
into  the  habitual.  The  order  in  Ex.  xxix.  35-37  to  fill  the  hand  of 
Aaron  and  his  sons  seven  days,  and  to  atone  for  the  altar  and  sanctify 
it  during  the  same  period,  acts  which  are  indicated  in  vs.  9-15  of  the 
order  given  in  Ex.  xh,  prepare  us  to  expand  the  time  occupied  with 
its  execution  into  at  least  eight  days.  For  it  is  to  be  observed  that 
Moses  in  the  following  part  of  the  chapter  makes  no  allusion  whatever 
to  the  anointing  of  the  tabernacle  and  its  furniture  and  its  priests,  and 
yet  goes  on  to  record  the  manifestation  of  the  divine  glory  in  the  erected 
tabernacle.  The  natural  inference  is,  that  the  seven  days  anointing 
had  already  taken  place,  and  that  the  concluding  event  took  place  on 
the  formal  erection  of  the  already  expiated  and  anointed  tabernacle. 
The  consecration  of  the  priests  and  the  dedication  of  the  tabernacle 
recorded  in  Lev.  viii.  goes  far  to  corroborate  this  inference.  The 
chapter  now  to  be  considered  will  contribute  in  no  small  measure  to 
its  more  general  acceptance  with  thoughtful  readers  of  the  Bible. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  the  inauguration  of  the  national  worship. 
It  consists  of  the  orders  conveyed  through  Moses  (1-7),  the  offerings 
for  Aaron  himself  (8-14),  the  offerings  for  the  people  (15-21),  and 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  appearing  after  the  benediction  (22-24). 

1-7.  The  orders  conveyed  by  Moses.  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the 
eighth  day.  This  form  of  words  indicates  the  introduction  of  a  new 
and  distinct  course  of  events.  The  eighth  day  is,  we  conceive,  the 
first  day  of  the  month  Abib,  with  which  the  sacred  year  commenced. 
For  this  is  manifestly  the  opening  of  the  tabernacle  worship.  It 
therefore  coincides  with  the  close  of  the  proceedings  recorded  in  Ex. 
16 


122  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  TABERNACLE  SERVICE. 

said  unto  Aaron,  Take  thee  a  calf  of  the  herd  for  a  sin-sacrifice, 
and  a  ram  for  a  burnt-sacrifice,  both  perfect,  and  offer  them 
before  the  Lord.  3.  And  thou  shalt  speak  to  the  sons  of 
Israel,  saying,  Take  ye  a  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-sacrifice, 
and  a  calf  and  a  lamb  of  the  first  year,  all  perfect,  for  a  burnt- 
offering.     4.  And  a  bullock  and  a  ram  for  a  peace-offering  to 


xl.  Called  Aaron  and  his  sons  and  the  elders  of  Israel :  the  former 
to  officiate,  the  latter  to  offer,  for  the  people  whom  they  represented 
on  this  national  festival.  2.  Unto  Aaron,  who  is  now  the  ordained 
high-priest  about  to  enter  upon  the  discharge  of  his  functions.  He 
is  directed  to  take  for  himself  a  calf  for  expiation  and  a  ram  for  pro- 
pitiation. The  typical  high-priest  is  compassed  with  infirmity,  like 
other  men,  and  needs  to  begin  with  offering  an  atonement  for  himself. 
The  acknowledgement  of  infirmity  and  the  expiation  for  it  come 
first.  Then  the  great  propitiatory  sacrifice  itself  is  foreshadowed  by 
the  burnt-sacrifice.  3.  And  thou  shalt  speak.  Aaron  is  here  initiated 
into  the  prophetic  and  kingly  parts  of  his  ofiice.  He  is  henceforth  to 
instruct  and  direct  the  people  as  their  spiritual  guide.  To  the  sons 
of  Israel,  many  of  them  at  hand,  no  doubt,  but  all  of  them  represented 
by  the  elders  already  mentioned.  The  people  are  directed  also  to 
present  a  kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-sacrifice,  and  a  calf  and  a  lamb  for 
a  burnt-sacrifice.  4.  But  a  peace-offering  also  is  to  be  presented  by 
the  people,  as  this  was  a  day  of  privilege,  honor,  and  fellowship 
with  God.  And  an  oblation.  This  was  the  indispensable  accompani- 
ment of  the  peace-offering,  the  flesh  of  which  was  to  be  dressed  and 
eaten  with  bread  by  the  worshipper.  But  this  oblation  seems  to  be  a 
special  one,  associated  afterwards  with  the  burnt-sacrifice  (vs.  17). 
^or.  The  reason  is  now  to  be  assigned  for  the  peace-offerings  of  the 
people.  To-day  the  Lord  appeareth  *  unto  you.  The  cloud  may  have 
already  covered  the  tent  of  meeting,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled 
the  tabernacle,  as  it  is  recorded  in  Ex.  xl.  34.  This  was  a  new  thing 
only  in  so  far  as  tlie  transition  from  the  temporary  to  the  permanent 
tent  of  meeting  was  concerned.  But  the  present  statement  seems  to 
refer  to  the  same  event  as  that  in  vs.  6.    It  is  therefore  really  a  new 


LEVITICUS  IX.  4-7.  123 

for  to-day  the  Lord  appeareth  unto  you.  5.  And  they  took 
that  which  Moses  commanded  before  the  tent  of  meeting:  and 
all  the  assembly  drew  near  and  stood  before  the  Lord.  6.  And 
Moses  said,  This  is  the  thing  which  the  Lord  hath  commanded 
that  ye  do ;  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  will  appear  unto  you. 
7.  And  Moses  said  unto  Aaron,  Draw  near  to  the  altar,  and 

appearance  of  the  Lord.  This  is  evidently  the  greatest  of  all  days 
since  the  proclamation  of  the  moral  law  on  mount  Sinai.  The  Lord  is 
about  to  follow  up  the  established  service  with  a  visible  manifestation 
of  his  acceptance  with  his  people  and  their  worship.  The  peace- 
offering  is  the  appropriate  service  for  those  who  are  accepted  of  God. 
This  manifestation  of  the  Lord  also  suits  the  day  on  which  the  setting 
up  of  the  tabernacle  was  completed.  5.  And  they  took.  They  will- 
ingly complied  with  the  requirement.  Before  the  tent  of  meeting^ 
where  the  victims  are  to  be  slain  (i.  11).  AU  the  assembly,  the  regu- 
larly constituted  meeting  of  the  people.  Drew  near,  with  solemn 
reverence  as  willing  and  unanimous  worshippers.  6.  And  Hoses  said. 
He  is  still  supreme  under  God  over  the  people.  Hath  commanded 
that  ye  do.  This  is  no  human  device  or  will-worship.  God  has 
appointed  the  way  in  which  you  may  approach  him  with  acceptance. 
The  glory  of  the  Lord.  The  visible  sign  of  bis  presence  will  be 
miraculous  and  glorious.  But  the  outward  and  sensible  glory  will 
only  be  a  faint  shadow  of  the  inward  and  spiritual  glory  which  it 
signifies.  The  glory  of  God  is  his  spiritual  nature,  his  power,  wisdom, 
holiness,  justice,  goodness,  and  truth.  But  the  glory  that  excelleth  is 
his  mercy.  In  keeping  with  this  the  glory  of  his  justice  is  the  propitia- 
tion for  sin,  foreshadowed  in  this  ceremonial  observance.  The  glory 
of  his  power  is  the  regeneration  of  the  soul  by  his  word  and  Spirit. 
All  this  glory  is  to  shine  forth  in  the  deep  meaning  of  this  day's  ser- 
vice. TJie  Lord  is  the  God  not  merely  of  eternity  and  omnipotence,  but 
of  the  promise  and  covenant  of  mercy.  Will  appear  unto  you.  What- 
ever any  think  of  the  appearance  mentioned  in  v.  4,  it  is  evident  that 
this  refers  to  the  manifestation  of  the  Divine  presence  and  acceptance 
of  the  sacrifice  which  is  recorded  at  the  end  of  this  chapter.  7.  Draw 
near  to  the  altar.     What  a  solemn  moment  for  Aaron,  the  represent- 


124     THE  OPENING  OF  THE  TABEENACLE  SERVICE. 

make  thy  sin-sacrifice  and  thy  burnt-sacrifice,  and  atone  for 
thyself  and  for  the  people ;  and  make  the  offering  of  the  people, 
and  atone  for  them,  as  the  Lord  hath  commanded. 

8.  And  Aaron  drew  near  to  the  altar ;  and  slew  the  calf  of 
the  sin-sacrifice  which  was  for  himself.  9.  And  the  sons  of 
Aaron  presented  the  blood  to  him ;  and  he  dipped  his  finger 
in  the  blood,  and  put  it  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar ;  and  he 

ative  mediator  between  God  and  man  now  about  to  enter  upon  his 
office.  Mak^  thy  sin-sacrifice  and  thy  burnt-sacrifice.  After  all  the 
expiation  and  propitiation  of  the  seven  days  of  consecration  he  is 
to  come  with  a  sin  and  a  burnt  sacrifice  for  himself.  He  is  but  an 
imperfect,  or  only  ceremonially  perfect,  shadow  of  the  true  High-priest. 
His  multiplied  and  diversified  sacrifices  are  only  symbols  of  the  one 
true,  all-sufficient  sacrifice  that  is  hereafter  to  be  made.  Atone  for 
thyself  and  for  the  people.  In  atoning  for  himself  he  was  atoning 
virtually  for  the  people.  An  accepted  high-priest  was  necessary  to 
make  atonement  for  the  people ;  so  that  in  setting  himself  right  at  the 
court  of  heaven  he  was  only  qualifying  himself  for  effectually  under- 
taking the  cause  of  the  people.  And  make  the  offering  of  the  people, 
when  thou  art  thyself  accepted  through  the  expiatory  and  propitiatory 
sacrifices  for  thyself.  And  atone  for  them.  The  atonement  for  them 
demanded  a  perfect  priest  and  a  perfect  victim.  In  the  real  propitia- 
tion these  two  are  combined  in  one.  As  the  Lord  hath  commanded. 
This  one  word  gives  hope  and  vitality  to  the  broken  and  humbled 
heart  of  Aaron.  With  this  voice  of  authority  he  is  encouraged  to 
gird  up  the  loins  of  his  mind  to  the  sublime  task  laid  upon  him. 

8-14.  The  offerings  for  Aaron.  Drew  near  to  the  altar,  with  all 
the  weight  of  his  official  responsibility  pressing  upon  him.  Which 
was  for  himself.  The  writer  emphatically  distinguishes  for  whom  the 
offering  is  made.  It  is  to  be  observed  too,  that  Aaron,  being  him- 
self the  offerer,  slays  the  victim  as  usual,  either  himself  or  by  his 
assistants.  9.  And  the  sons  of  Aaron,  acting  in  this  case  as  priests. 
He  dipped  his  finger.  As  there  is  not  a  particular  offence  charged 
against  Aaron,  he  himself  officiates.  Put  it  upon  the  horns  of  the 
altar.     The  sacrifice  is  not  made  for  a  known  sin  of  inadvertence  as 


LEVITICUS  IX.  9-16.  125 

poured  out  the  blood  at  the  foot  of  the  altar.  10.  Aud  the 
fat  and  the  kidneys  and  the  caul  from  the  liver  of  the  sin- 
sacrifice  he  burned  upon  the  altar,  as  the  Lord  commanded 
Moses.  11.  And  the  flesh  and  the  hide  he  burned  with  fire 
without  the  camp.  12.  And  he  slew  the  burnt-sacrifice :  and 
Aaron's  sons  handed  unto  him  the  blood,  and  he  sprinkled 
it  on  the  altar  around.  13.  And  they  handed  to  him  the 
burnt-sacrifice  in  its  pieces  and  the  head  ;  and  he  burned  them 
upon  the  altar.  14.  And  he  washed  the  inwards  and  the  legs, 
and  burned  them  upon  the  burnt-sacrifice  on  the  altar. 

15.  And  he  presented  the  offering  of  the  people  ;  and  he 
took  the  goat  of  the  sin-sacrifice  which  was  for  the  people,  and 
slew  it,  and  he  offered  it  for  sin,  as  the  first.     16.  And  he 

iu  iv.  1-12,  but  to  expiate  the  sinful  infirmity  of  the  official,  aud  fit 
liim  for  the  proper  discharge  of  his  functions.  Hence  the  blood  is  not 
spattered  on  the  veil  and  applied  to  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  incense 
(iv.  6,  7),  but  simply  put  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  burnt-sacrifice, 
as  in  the  offering  of  the  prince  or  one  of  the  people  (iv.  25,  30).  The 
mode  vax'ies  according  to  the  circumstances,  but  the  meaning  is  the 
same.  10,  11.  The  sacrifice  is  made  according  to  the  rule  laid  down 
in  chap.  iv.  As  the  Lord  commanded  Moses.  This  shows  that  the 
ritual  canons  of  the  first  eight  chapters  were  given  before  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  day.  12.  The  burnt-sacrifice  representing  the  great 
propitiation  is  now  briefly  noticed.  Handed^'^  actually  placed  in  his 
hands.  13, 14.  It  is  treated  according  to  the  rule.  The  offerings  on 
the  part  of  the  priests  now  cease.  They  are  merely  preliminary.  The 
day  is  not  the  day  of  the  priests,  but  of  the  people. 

15-21.  The  offerings  for  the  people.  And  he  presented.  The 
subject,  not  being  expressed,  is  to  be  supplied  according  to  the  exi- 
gency of  the  occasion.  In  this  case  it  may  be  some  one  acting  for  the 
people.  The  only  case  in  which  the  priest  is  necessary  as  the  subject 
is  the  last  sentence,  and  he  offered  it  for  sin,  as  in  vi.  19,  made  it  an 
expiation  for  sin.  1 6.  Here  again  the  first  sentence  may  have  for  its 
subject  the  representative  of  the  people,  the  second  must  have  the 


126  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  TABERNACLE  SERVICE. 

presented  the  burnt-sacrifice,  and  he  made  it  after  the  manner. 
17.  And  he  presented  the  oblation  and  filled  his  hand  from  it 
and  burned  it  upon  the  altar,  besides  the  burnt-sacrifice  of  the 
morning.  18.  And  he  slew  the  bullock  and  the  ram,  the 
sacrifice  of  peace  which  was  for  the  people  :  and  Aaron's  sons 
handed  the  blood  to  him,  and  he  sprinkled  it  on  the  altar 

priest.  The  burnt-sacrifice  is  offered  according  to  the  order  prescribed 
in  the  ritual.  It  consisted  (vs.  3)  of  a  calf  and  a  lamb.  It  is  not  stated 
whether  the  latter  be  the  same  as  the  lamb  of  the  morning  sacrifice. 
It  is  generally  considered  to  be  different.  The  offering  is  at  all  events 
made  according  to  the  usual  canon.  17.  The  oUation.  If  this  be 
the  oblation  mentioned  in  vs.  4  after  the  peace-offering,  it  is  here 
transposed,  and  presented  after  the  burnt-sacrifice.  According  to 
Num.  XV.  3-11  such  an  oblation  was  invariably  to  accompany  the 
burnt-sacrifice  or  peace-offering  when  the  people  were  come  into  the 
land  of  their  habitation.  The  same  is  to  be  done  here  in  the  wilder- 
ness on  this  extraordinary  occasion.  Besides  the  hurnt-sacrijice}'' 
This  may  be  understood  in  two  ways.  If  the  lamb  prescribed  be  not 
the  morning  sacrifice,  then  the  burnt-sacrifice  is  additional  to  the 
standing  one  of  the  morning.  But  several  considerations  are  in  favor 
of  their  identity.  First,  Aaron  was  now  manifestly  to  act  for  the  first 
time  as  duly  constituted  high-priest,  and  it  seems  incongruous  that  he 
should  have  offered  a  morning  sacrifice  beforehand.  Secondly,  this 
was  manifestly  the  commencement  of  the  national  worship ;  there 
cannot  therefore  have  been  a  previous  morning  sacrifice  distinct  from 
this,  as  the  latter  would  have  been  the  real  commencement.  Thirdly, 
the  erection  of  the  tabernacle  had  to  be  completed  on  this  morning, 
and  this,  though  of  trivial  amount,  would  occupy  some  time.  Fourthly, 
the  manifest  propriety  of  the  initiatory  sacrifice  being  kindled  by  the 
fire  from  God  points  the  same  way.  And,  lastly,  the  phrase  "  besides 
the  burnt-sacrifice  of  the  morning"  is  mostly  simply  explained  to  mean 
that  the  oblation  already  mentioned  was  in  addition  to  the  morning 
sacrifice  on  this  special  occasion,  though  it  did  not  usually  accompany 
.  it  while  the  people  were  in  the  wilderness.  18.  The  sacrifice  of  peace 
is  now  presented.     After  propitiation  comes  fellowship.     This  is  fol- 


LEVITICUS  IX.  18-22.  127 

around.  19.  And  the  fat  of  the  bullock,  and  of  the  ram,  the 
tail,  and  that  which  covereth,  and  the  kidneys,  and  the  caul  of 
the  liver :  20.  And  they  put  the  fat  upon  the  breasts,  and  he 
burned  the  fat  upon  the  altar.  21.  And  the  breasts  and  the 
right  leg  Aaron  made  a  waving  before  the  Lord  ;  as  Moses  had 
commanded. 

22.  And  Aaron  lifted  up  his  hands  towards  the  people  and 
blessed  them  ;  and  came  down  from  making  the  sin-sacrifice 

lowed  by  a  sacred  feast  upon  the  victim,  and  is  therefore  according  to 
rule  (vii.  12-14)  accompanied  with  its  oblation.  Which  was  for  the 
people.  It  is  carefully  noted  that  this  is  for  the  people,  who  are  now 
in  full  and  happy  communion  with  their  God.  19,  20.  The  fat  of  the 
bullock.  This  is  first  mentioned  by  itself  in  one  word.  And  of  the 
ram.  Then  follow  the  several  parts  which  compose  the  fat  of  the 
ram.  That  which  covereth.  This  is  briefly  put  for  the  fat  that  lay  as 
a  lining  over  the  inwards.  The  caul  of  the  liver,  usually  the  caul 
upon  the  liver.  This  whole  verse  is  summed  up  by  the  single  word 
'fat'  in  the  next  verse.  21.  The  breasts  of  the  bullock  and  the  ram. 
These  belong  to  the  Lord  as  his  special  part.  And  the  right  leg  of 
each.  This  belongs  to  the  oflBciating  priest  (Lev.  vii.  34),  as  the 
former  is  awarded  to  the  whole  order.  These  are  accordingly  waved, 
but  not  burnt  on  the  altar.  As  3Ioses  had  commanded.-'^  Moses  is  as 
God  unto  Aaron  (Ex.  iv.  16). 

22-24.  The  blessing  of  the  people  and  the  acceptance  of  their 
offering.  After  the  offering  of  the  sacrifice  of  peace,  at  the  close 
of  the  whole  public  sacrifice  by  which  the  tabernacle  service  was  in- 
augurated, Aaron,  while  he  was  still  on  the  landing  at  the  altar,  and 
therefore  elevated  above  the  people,  lifted  up  his  hands  toward  them 
and  blessed  them.  The  formula  of  benediction  is  first  put  on  record 
in  Num.  vi.  22-27.  It  is  there  said  to  be  delivered  to  Moses  for  the 
guidance  of  Aaron,  and  may  have  been  communicated  before  the 
present  very  solemn  occasion  of  using  it.  And  came  down  from  the 
landing  on  which  he  stood  while  ministering  at  the  altar.  (See  i.  11.) 
The  sacrifice  of  expiation,  propitiation,  and  peace  had  been  completed, 
and  the  blessing  is  pronounced  as  the  natural  consequence.     As  the 


128  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  TABERNACLE  SERVICE. 

and  the  burnt-sacrifice  and  the  peace-offering.  23.  And  Moses 
and  Aaron  went  into  the  tent  of  meeting,  and  came  forth  and 
blessed  the  people:  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  appeared  to 
all  the  people.     24.  And  fire  went  forth  from  before  the  Lord, 

sacrifice  lay  on  the  altar  unconsumed,  this  was  a  moment  of  intense 
emotion  to  the  onlooking  assembly  who  had  been  led  to  expect  an 
extraordinary  manifestation  of  the  presence  and  glory  of  the  Lord. 
23.  Moses  and  Aaron  then  went  into  the  tent  of  meeting.  The  con- 
secrator  and  the  consecrated  on  this  solemn  occasion  go  together  into 
the  holy  place.  We  are  not  here  informed  of  the  purpose  for  which 
they  entered.  But  the  general  purpose  is  to  be  gathered  from  the 
design  with  which  the  tabernacle  was  constructed.  "  And  I  will  meet 
with  thee  there,  and  speak  with  thee  from  above  the  mercy-seat  (Ex. 
XXV.  22.)  "  "When  I  will  meet  you  to  speak  there  unto  thee.  And 
there  will  I  meet  with  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  it  shall  be  sanctified  by 
my  glory  "  (Ex.  xxix.  42,  43).  Meeting  with  God  is  holding  com- 
munion with  him.  The  interview  of  Moses  with  God  is  carried  on 
by  means  of  speech.  "  I  will  speak  to  thee  of  all  that  I  command 
thee  concerning  the  sons  of  Israel."  And  Moses  speaks  with  God  of 
all  that  he  desires  for  the  people  (Ex.  xxxiii.  7-23).  This  is  no  doubt 
the  ground  on  which  Moses  and  Aaron  now  enter  the  tabernacle. 
They  go  in  to  make  intercession  for  the  people  on  this  great  occasion. 
They  ask  for  the  acceptance  of  the  people  who  have  now  approached 
the  Lord  their  God  for  the  first  time  under  the  new  economy.  More- 
over if,  as  we  conceive,  the  morning  sacrifice  has  now  been  offered, 
Moses  and  Aaron  go  in  to  burn  incense  on  the  golden  altar  and  trim 
the  lamps  on  the  golden  candlestick  (Ex.  xxx.  7,  8).  This  could  not 
be  omitted  on  this  great  day,  and  Moses  could  not  but  accompany 
Aaron  on  the  first  occasion  of  his  officiating  regularly  within  the  taber- 
nacle. After  making  intercession  they  came  forth,  and  once  more 
blessed  the  people.  When  intercession  has  been  made  for  them  at 
the  throne  of  grace,  the  benediction  is  no  less  appropriate.  It  is 
then  added  that  the  glory  of  the  Lord  appeared  to  all  the  people. 
A  sudden  burst  of  light  in  and  over  the  tabernacle  now  appeared. 
24.  And  f  re  went  forth.     The  manifestation  of  the  divine  glory  is 


LEVITICUS  IX.  24.  129 

and  consumed  upon  the  altar  the  burnt-sacrifice  and  the  fat : 
and  all  the  people  saw,  and  they  shouted,  and  fell  upon  their 
faces. 


attended  with  an  issue  of  fire  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  This 
fire  consumes  the  burnt-sacrifices  and  the  fat  of  the  other  sacrifices 
and  the  handful  of  the  oblation  of  flour  and  oil  which  had  been  all 
laid  upon  the  altar.  This  is  a  conspicuous  sign  of  acceptance,  mirac- 
ulously given  by  God  himself  The  people  take  cognizance  of  the 
presence  and  power  and  grace  of  the  Lord,  shout  with  joy  and  thanks- 
giving, and  fall  down  on  their  faces  in  trembling  adoration.  They 
had  been,  deservedly  as  they  felt,  rejected  on  account  of  the  worship 
of  the  golden  calf,  as  the  sacred  writer  very  plainly  calls  it,  or  the 
worship  of  Apis,  which  they  had  witnessed  in  Egypt.  The  tent  of 
meeting  had  consequently  been  removed  and  pitched  far  from  their 
camp.  Moses  had  no  doubt  interceded  for  them,  and  prevailed  with 
the  Lord  to  pardon  them.  But  now  the  new  tent  of  meeting  has  been 
erected  in  the  midst  of  them  once  more,  and  the  appointed  sacrifices 
have  been  offered  for  the  first  time  by  the  newly  instituted  priesthood. 
These  sacrifices  have  now  been  manifestly  accepted  by  a  miraculous 
sign  from  the  Lord;  and  they  themselves  are  thus  fully  restored 
to  the  divine  favor.  This  was  a  gracious  and  fitting  reception  of  the 
people  on  the  first  day  of  the  new  year,  and  in  all  probability  coin- 
cides with  the  statement  in  Ex.  xl.  34,  35,  near  the  close  of  the  account 
of  the  rearing  up  of  the  tabernacle. 


4.  Appeareth,  nsis,  is  shown,  literally  as  it  is  pointed,  hath 
appeared.  If  this  were  intended  by  the  Masoretes  to  refer  to  an 
event  already  past,  there  must  have  been  two  appearings  on  this  day, 
one  at  the  rearing  of  the  tabernacle,  and  another  on  the  blessing  of 
thii  people  at  the  close  of  the  sacrificial  service.  If  it  be  meant  to 
refer  to  an  event  yet  to  come,  it  must  be  literally  rendered  "  will  have 
appeared,"  which  apart  from  1  copulative  is  not  usual,  ns'i?  would 
in  this  case  be  the  easier  reading,  though  the  other  is  in  keeping 
with  the  Hebrew  style.     The  Sept.  and  Vulg.  give  the  future. 


130      OTHER  EVENTS  OF  THE  OPEXIXG  SERVICE. 

7.  Make,  nr^' ,  including  all  the  priestly  functions  connected  with 
sacrifice. 

12.  Handed,  X'^^J'Q'^,  cause  to  find;  more  definite  than  3"'"ip^,  cause 
to  approach. 

17.  The  explanation,  following  in  the  text,  of  this  sacrifice,  as  iden- 
tical with  the  lamb  of  the  prescribed  burnt-sacrifice,  simplifies  the  nar- 
rative and  facilitates  the  conception  of  the  possibilities  of  the  scene. 
It  also  makes  the  appearance  of  the  phrase  in  this  place  more  natural. 
The  statement  that  Aaron  burned  the  various  offerings  on  the  altnr 
(vs.  10,  13,  14,  17,  20),  may  simply  mean  that  he  laid  them  all  on  the 
altar  as  usual,  when  they  were  burned  in  due  course  of  time  by  the 
fire  kindled  from  heaven. 

21.  Some  MSS.  have  here,  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses.  The 
meaning  is  to  the  same  eflfect.  The  variety  of  expression  is  in  favor 
of  the  common  reading. 


X.     OTHER  EVENTS  OF  THE  OPENING  SERVICE. 

The  last  chapter,  according  to  the  manner  of  Moses,  is  brought  to  a 
close  worthy  of  the  occasion.  But  in  this  case  he  was  enabled  to  do 
so  only  by  stopping  short  of  circumstances  of  a  very  shocking  and 
humiliating  character.  The  proceedings,  which  up  to  the  very  cul- 
minating point  were  so  auspicious,  were  suddenly  overcast  by  the 
shade  of  a  direful  catastrophe.  This  was  the  offering  of  strange  fire 
by  two  of  the  sons  of  Aaron,  instantly  followed  by  a  terrific  outbreak 
of  divine  judgment  upon  them  (1-7).  This  leads  to  a  solemn  and 
significant  injunction  laid  on  the  priests  to  refrain  from  wine  or  strong 
drink  when  about  to  officiate  in  the  holy  place  (8-11).  The 
r(!mainder  of  the  chapter  is  occupied  with  directions  and  inquiries 
concerning  the  parts  of  the  sacrifices  which  were  not  burned  on 
the  altar  (12-20).  After  the  sublime  event  and  the  high-strung 
enthusiasm  of  the  former  chapter  we  here  sink  down  far  below  the 
ordinary  level  of  human  infirmity.  We  find  ourselves  walking  on 
earth,  amid  the  manifestations  of  a  heart  that  is  deceitful  above  all 
things  and  desperately  wicked.  The  lessons  we  learn  are  salutary 
indeed,  but  inexpressibly  sad. 


LEVITICUS  X.  1,  2.  131 

X.  1.  And  Nadab  and  Abibu,  sons  of  Aaron,  took  each  his 
censer,  and  put  fire  therein,  and  laid  incense  on  it,  and  offered 
before  the  Lord  strange  fire,  which  he  commanded  them  not. 
2.  And  fire  went  forth  from  before  the  Lord  and  consumed 


1-7.  The  strange  fire.  1.  Nadab  and  Ahihu.  These  were  the 
eldest  sons  of  Aaron  (Ex.  vi.  23  ;  Num.  iii.  2).  Took  each  his  censer. 
We  should  be  at  a  loss  to  imagine  any  shadow  of  a  reason  for  this 
proceeding  on  the  part  of  Nabab  and  Abihu,  if  it  were  not  that  the 
solemn  sacrifice  already  described  was  the  morning  sacrifice  enlarged 
in  proportion  to  the  occasion,  after  which  Aaron,  accompanied  by 
Moses,  went  in  with  fire  to  kindle  the  incense  on  the  golden  altar. 
This  solemn  act  of  Moses  and  Aaron  may  have  suggested  to  the  two 
young  men,  who  had  taken  a  part  in  the  sacrifices  at  the  outer  altar, 
the  daring  attempt  to  intrude  into  the  holy  place  without  any  man- 
date or  invitation.  "We  cannot  say  what  other  influences  contributed 
to  their  impious  resolve,  whether  they  took  umbrage  at  being  excluded 
from  the  tabernacle,  or  rashly  imagined  they  were  free  to  follow  the 
steps  of  IMoses  and  Aaron.  And  put  fire  therein,  as  they  may  have 
seen  Moses  and  Aaron  doing.  And  offered  before  the  Lord.  They 
were  in  the  court  on  the  way  to  the  door  of  the  tabernacle.  They 
were  therefore  in  the  act  of  presenting  the  burning  incense  before  the 
Lord.  Strange  fire.  This  is  explained  by  the  words  following, 
"  which  he  commanded  them  not."  The  fire  is  strange,  because  it 
differed  from  that  prescribed  by  law,  either  in  the  men,  the  matter, 
the  manner,  or  the  time.  It  is  therefore  in  one  or  more  of  these 
respects  a  thing  not  commanded,  and  consequently  forbidden  ;  and  the 
presenting  of  it  is  an  act  of  will-worship.  It  was  moreover  presump- 
tuous, when  they  knew  that  Moses  and  Aaron  were  called  of  God  to 
regulate  the  whole  service,  while  they  themselves  had  received  no 
such  authority,  and  occupied  only  a  subordinate  place.  What  other 
unworthy  motives  were  lurking  in  their  mind,  whether  idolatrous  or 
selfish,  we  are  not  informed,  and  it  is  bootless  to  conjecture.  2.  And 
fire  went  forth.  The  very  element  of  their  sin  is  the  element  of  their 
retributive  punishment.  From  before  the  Lord.  The  presentation 
of  the  strange  fire  took  place  after  Moses  and  Aaron  came  out  of  the 


132      OTHER  EVENTS  OF  THE  OPENING  SEEVICE. 

them  ;  and  tliey  died  before  the  Lord.  8.  And  Moses  said 
unto  Aaron,  This  is  that  which  the  Lord  hath  spoken,  saying, 
I  will  be  sanctified  in  those  who  come  nigh  me,  and  before 


tabernacle  and  before  the  eating  of  the  oblation  and  certain  parts  of 
the  sin-sacrifice  and  the  peace-offering  that  had  been  made.  There  is 
nothing  to  forbid  the  supposition  that  it  happened  precisely  after  they 
had  blessed  the  people  on  coming  out  of  the  holy  place.  In  that  case 
the  very  flashing  forth  of  fire  that  consumed  the  victims  may  have  at 
the  same  time  struck  those  self-willed  intruders,  as  they  were  drawing 
nigh  to  the  door  of  the  tabernacle.  At  any  rate  the  one  event  must 
have  been  quite  close  upon  the  other :  for  the  very  next  step  of  the 
procedure  would  have  been  the  holy  communion  of  the  priests  and 
the  representatives  of  the  people  with  God  in  the  sacrificial  feast. 
Thus  on  the  same  occasion  the  act  of  divinely  appointed  worship  is 
solemnly  accepted  and  the  act  of  presumptuous  will-worship  instantly 
and  sternly  punished.  And  fire  is  strangely  seen  doing  its  twofold 
work  of  accepting  and  of  destroying.  And  they  died  before  the  Lord. 
Death  is  the  inevitable  doom  of  presumptuous  sin.  3.  And  Moses 
said  unto  Aaron.  This  was  an  agonizing  moment ;  yet  Moses  has 
presence  of  mind  equal  to  the  occasion.  The  whole  past  of  his  won- 
derful history  prepared  him  for  such  a  crisis.  Tliis  is  that  which  the 
Lord  hath  spohen.  He  feels  that  the  eternal  interests  of  the  people 
of  God  are  trembling  in  the  balance.  He  will  raise  up  his  brother's  mind 
above  the  concerns  of  his  own  heart  to  his  transcendent  relation  to 
God  and  his  people.  The  principle  he  announces  is  contained  in  the 
words  of  the  Lord  to  himself,  recorded  in  Ex.  xix.  22.  But  it  is  here 
given  by  Moses  as  the  Lord's  present  explanation  of  the  judgment 
that  had  now  been  executed.  /  will  he  sanctified  in  those  loho  come 
nigh  me.  I  require  exact  compliance  with  my  will  in  my  attendants, 
and  visit  any  wilful  departure  from  it  with  prompt  and  condign 
punishment.  The  reasonableness  of  this  is  obvious.  The  ritual  of 
worship  which  the  Lord  himself  has  instituted  has  an  important 
and  authoritative  meaning,  foreshadowing  the  divine  purpose  and  plan 
of  salvation.  That  which  man  devises  is,  in  the  nature  of  things,  devoid 
of  either  significance   or  authority.     Its   inculcation   is  an  arrogant 


LEVITICUS  X.  3-5.  I33 

all  the  people  I  will   be   glorified.      And  Aaron  was  mute. 

4.  And  Moses  called  Mishael  and  Elzaphan,  sons  of  Uzziel, 
Aaron's  uncle ;  and  he  said  unto  them,  Draw  nigh,  take  your 
brethren  from  before  the  sanctuary  to  the  outside  of  the  camp. 

5.  And  they  drew  nigh,  and  took  them  in  their  coats  to  the 
outside  of  the  camp.     6.  And  Moses  said  unto  Aaron  and  to 

assumption  of  the  prerogative  of  God,  and  its  practice  a  daring  in- 
trusion into  his  presence  without  leave.  And  either  is  calculated  to 
deceive  the  on-looker  to  his  eternal  ruin.  Hence  it  is  added,  before 
all  the  people  I  will  be  glorified.  The  further  consideration  that  God 
is  the  Governor  and  Judge  of  all  the  world  makes  it  an  incumbent 
duty  to  execute  retributive  justice  on  the  offender.  There  is  more- 
over a  peculiar  importance  in  the  phrase  "  those  who  come  nigh  me." 
Those  who  are  in  actual  relation  with  God  as  confidential  servants 
are  vastly  more  blamable  for  acts  of  disobedience  than  those  who  do 
not  hold  such  offices  of  trust,  or  those  who  stand  in  no  close  relation 
to  him,  when  they  commit  similar  acts  of  sin.  But  a  still  greater 
stress  is  to  be  laid  on  the  gravity  of  their  offence,  when  we  pass  from 
the  type  to  that  which  is  typified.  The  whole  function  of  the  priest  was 
a  figure  of  the  real  atonement  for  sin  to  be  made  by  the  great  High- 
priest  on  behalf  of  the  fallen  race  of  man.  A  violation  of  this  function 
was  therefore  a  crime  of  the  deepest  die,  as  it  was  an  annulling  of  the 
atonement  for  man.  This  alone  is  sufficient  to  account  for  the  instant 
vindication  of  the  divine  holiness.  And  Aaron  was  mute.  He  bowed 
in  humble  submission  to  the  judgments  of  God,  and  entirely  acqui- 
esced in  the  explanation  of  Moses. 

4.  Mishael  and  Elzaphan*  (Ex.  vi.  22).  Your  brethren,  taken  in 
the  wide  sense  of  kinsmen  :  they  were  the  sons  of  their  cousin  Aaron. 
From  before  the  sanctuary.  Hence  they  were  struck  down  in  the  court 
on  their  way  to  the  sanctuary.  5.  And  took  them  in  their  coats. 
From  this  we  perceive  that  the  fire  by  which  they  were  killed  was 
the  lightning  fiash,  which  left  their  coats  still  comparatively  uninjured. 
To  the  outside  of  the  camp.  The  bodies  and  the  priestly  dress  in 
which  they  were  arrayed  were  desecrated  by  the  presumptuous  act 
of  the  deceased.     Hence  they  are  to  be  removed  out  of  the  sacred 


134  OTHER  EVENTS  OF  THE  OPENING  SERVICE. 

Eleazar  and  Ithamar  his  sons,  Bare  not  your  heads,  nor 
rend  your  garments,  lest  ye  die,  and  wrath  fall  upon  all  the 
assembly :  and  your  brethren,  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  shall 
bewail  the  burning  which  the  Lord  hath  kindled.  7.  And  ye 
shall  not  go  out  from  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting,  lest  ye 
die :  for  the  anointing  oil  of  the  Lord  is  upon  you.  And 
they  did  according  to  the  word  of  Moses.  ^ 

preciuct.  6.  Eleazar  and  Ithamar^  are  now  associated  with  their 
father.  Bare  not  your  heads.  Baring  the  head  so  that  the  hair 
might  flow  unkempt  was  an  ancient  and  natural  sign  of  grief.  Rend- 
ing the  garments  was  of  similar  import.  The  priests  in  tlieir  official 
capacity  stood  in  higher  and  closer  relation  with  God  on  the  one  hand, 
and  with  the  whole  people  on  the  other,  than  with  their  own  kindred. 
They  are  not  therefore  to  disturb  the  complacence  of  God  or  the 
gratitude  of  the  people  by  such  outward  displays  of  personal  grief. 
The  mitre  or  bonnet  on  their  head  and  the  coat  on  their  body  are 
sacred,  and  not  to  be  violated :  they  are  the  outward  symbols  of  their 
office,  which  is  not  to  be  interrupted  by  the  minor  concerns  of  private 
life.  Lest  ye  die.  The  feeling  of  grief  is  not  forbidden.  But  the 
frustrating  of  the  vitally  important  functions  they  have  to  discharge 
by  such  outward  acts  is  a  grave  offence  that  may  be  visited  by  instant 
death ;  for  it  severs  the  bond  of  peace  between  God  and  man,  and 
brings  "  wrath  upon  all  the  assembly."  The  whole  house  of  Israel, 
however,  is  allowed  to  show  the  outward  signs  of  grief  for  the  judg- 
ment of  "  burning,"  both  in  its  cause  and  consequences.  This  high 
mark  of  respect  and  sympathy  was  well  fitted  to  soothe  the  sad  hearts 
of  Aaron  and  his  surviving  sons.  7.  Ye  shall  not  go  out,  to  take  part 
in  the  burial  of  the  deceased.  The  service  of  the  sanctuary  is  of  para- 
mount importance ;  it  is  not  to  be  interrupted  by  private  occupations, 
and  especially  by  the  defiling  concerns  of  the  grave.  The  priests 
were  not  absolutely  confined  to  the  court  of  the  tabernacle :  they  had 
to  go  out,  for  example,  to  burn  the  bodies  of  the  sin-sacrifice,  the  blood 
of  which  was  carried  into  the  sanctuary,  and  doubtless  on  other  nec- 
essary occasions.  But  no  other  occupation  was  to  interfere  with  the 
functions  of  the  sacred  office.     For  the  anointing  oil  of  the  Lord  is 


LEVITICUS  X.  8-11.  135 

8.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Aaron,  saying,  9.  Drink  not 
wine  nor  strong  drink,  thou  nor  thy  sons  with  thee,  when  ye 
go  into  the  tent  of  meeting,  lest  ye  die :  it  is  a  statute  forever 
unto  your  generations.  10.  And  to  separate  between  the  holy 
and  the  profane,  and  between  the  clean  and  the  unclean.  11. 
And  to  teach  the  sons  of  Israel  all  the  statutes  which  the  Lord 
hath  spoken  to  them  by  the  hand  of  Moses.  ^ 

upon  you.  This  is  the  symbol  of  the  spirit  of  life,  and  has  no  relation 
with  the  pageantry  of  death.  It  is  the  emblem  of  purity  and  must  be 
kept  free  from  the  contamination  of  evil.  It  proclaims  you  to  belont^ 
to  the  Lord,  and  does  not  permit  you  to  engage  in  anything  that 
would  interfere  with  his  claim  upon  your  service.  And  they  did. 
There  is  an  unreserved  compliance  with  this  solemn  injunction. 

8-11.  Abstinence  from  stimulant  drinks  in  the  discharge  of  sacred 
functions  enjoined.  Spake  unto  Aaron.  This  is  the  first  communica- 
tion made  directly  to  Aaron.  It  takes  place  after  liis  induction 
into  office.  Brink  not  wine,  the  juice  of  the  grape  usually  fermented. 
Strong  drink  was  made  from  the  date  or  sap  of  the  palm,  and  some- 
times also  from  a  preparation  of  honey  or  barley.  It  was  usually 
strengthened  with  spices  (Hieron.  Ep.  ad  Nepot.).  These  were  intoxi- 
cating drinks.  The  propriety  of  the  prohibition  is  obvious.  The 
worship  of  God  is  an  intelligent  service  (John  iv.  24),  and  therefore 
requires  a  clear  and  collected  mind;  it  is  a  holy  exercise  (xix.  2), 
and  therefore  demands  a  pure  and  undivided  heart.  This  is  therefore 
to  be  a  perpetual  statute  for  all  generations.  The  occasion  on  which 
it  is  introduced  leads  to  the  surmise  that  Nadab  and  Abihu  may  have 
been  under  the  influence  of  stimulants  when  they  violated  the  sancti- 
ties of  the  worship  of  God.  10.  11.  This  rule  serves  two  purposes: 
(1)  It  separates  between  the  holy  and  the  profane  ;  the  clean  and  the 
unclean.  The  profane  is  the  common,  or  that  which  is  not  devoted  to 
the  sanctuary.  Uncleanness  may  befall  either  the  holy  or  the  profane. 
Abstinence  during  the  worship  of  God  from  stimulating  drinks,  the  use 
of  which  was  allowed  on  ordinary  occasions,  made  obvious  the  separation 
between  the  holy  and  the  profane.  (2)  It  teaches  the  people,  deepens 
in  their  minds  the  memory  and  the  meaning  of  the  divine  ordinances 
By  the  hand  of  Moses.     By  his  agency. 


136      OTHER  EVENTS  OF  THE  OPENING  SEEVICE. 

12.  And  Moses  spake  unto  Aaron,  and  unto  Eleazar  and 
Ithamar,  his  remaining  sons.  Take  the  oblation  that  remaineth 
of  the  fire-offerings  of  the  Lord,  and  eat  it  sweet  beside  the 
altar ;  for  it  is  most  holy.  13.  And  ye  shall  eat  it  in  the  holy 
place,  for  it  is  thy  due  and  the  due  of  thy  sons  out  of  the  fire- 
offerings  of  the  Lord  :  for  so  I  am  commanded.  14.  And  the 
wave-breast  and  the  heave-leg  shall  ye  eat  in  a  clean  place, 
thou  and  thy  sons  and  thy  daughters  with  thee :  for  they  are 
given  as  thy  due  and  the  due  of  thy  sons  out  of  the  sacri- 
fices of  peace  of  the  sons  of  Israel.     15.  The  heave-leg  and  the 


12-20.  The  public  service  concluded.  After  this  abrupt  and  awful 
interruption  to  the  solemnity  and  exultation  of  the  moment,  Moses 
recalls  the  newly  appointed  priests  to  the  completion  of  the  sacrificial 
service.  12.  Take  the  oblation.  This  is  according  to  the  rule  vi.  9. 
That  remaineth,  after  the  memorial  has  been  presented.  Sweet,  that 
is,  without  leaven.  Beside  the  altar^  in  a  covered  space  prepared  for 
the  purpose.'^  It  is  most  holy.  Everything  that,  if  not  eaten  by  the 
priests,  would  have  been  consumed  on  the  altar  as  a  fire-offering,  is 
regarded  as  most  holy.  13.  Thy  due,^^  thy  portion,  settled  by  statute. 
So  I  am  commanded.  Moses  is  careful  to  intimate  on  all  suitable 
occasions  that  his  directions  have  the  authority  of  God.  The  reitera- 
tion of  this  statement  shows  that  he  considers  it  of  essential  impor- 
tance. Nothing  ceremonial  is  to  be  imposed  or  accepted  that  has  not 
the  stamp  of  heaven.  14.  The  wave-breast  and  the  heave-leg.  (See 
on  vii.  28-36.)  In  a  clean  place.  Here  they  are  not  limited  to 
the  court  of  the  tabernacle,  but  only  to  a  clean  place.  The  whole 
family,  male  and  female,  are  entitled  to  partake  of  these  pieces.  They 
are  set  apart  for  the  priests  from  the  sacrifice  of  peace,  which  includes 
the  feast  of  fellowship  wherein  the  worshippers  participate.  The 
Lord  has  the  breast,  the  priests  the  right  leg,  including,  of  course,  the 
shoulder,  and  the  offerer  and  his  friends  the  remainder.  In  this  case 
the  offerer  is  the  assembly  api)earing  by  its  representatives.  This  is 
therefore  in  reality  a  feast  of  communion  between  the  Lord,  the  priest- 
hood, and  the  people.     15.  Upon  the  fat  the  two  pieces  already  men- 


LEVITICUS  X.  15-17.  137 

wave-breast  upon  the  fire-offerings  of  fat  shall  they  bring,  to 
make  a  waving  before  the  Lord  :  and  it  shall  belong  to  thee 
and  to  thy  sous  with  thee  by  a  statute  forever ;  as  the  Lord 
hath  commanded.  16.  And  the  kid  of  the  sin-sacrifice  Moses 
sought  diligently,  and  behold  it  was  burnt :  and  he  was  wroth 
with  Eleazar  and  Ithamar,  Aaron's  remaining  sons,  saying, 
17.  Why  have  ye  not  eaten  the  sin-sacrifice  in  the  holy  place, 
for  it  is  most  holy  ;    and  it  he  hath   given   you  to  bear  the 

tioned  are  to  be  waved  before  the  Lord.  Heaving  therefore  seems 
to  be  regarded  as  a  species  of  waving.  Waving  accords  with  fellow- 
ship. The  fat  is  then  consumed  as  a  fire-offering  on  the  akar,  while 
the  breast  and  the  leg  are  to  be  eaten  by  the  priests.  16.  The  present 
sin-sacrifice  (ix.  3)  being  offered  not  for  any  special  sin  of  the  people, 
but  as  a  preparative  for  the  presentation  of  the  burnt-sacrifice  and 
peace-offering,  is  not  a  bullock,  as  in  the  former  case  (iv.  14),  but  a 
kid.  And  its  blood  is  not  taken  into  the  sanctuary,  and  hence  its  flesh 
is  not  to  be  burned  in  the  place  of  ashes  (iv.  21),  but  eaten  by  the 
officiating  priest  (vi.  19).  3Ioses  sought  it  diUgently  for  this  purpose, 
but  found  it  was  burned  in  the  customary  place,  without  the  camp. 
He  was  wroth,  he  expressed  his  displeasure  to  the  sous  of  Aaron, 
either  because  he  felt  for  Aaron  and  did  not  like  to  rebuke  him,  or 
because  the  sons  took  part  in  officiating  and  should  have  looked  to  this 
duty.  17.  Why  have  ye  not  eaten.  The  flesh  of  the  victim  for  sin 
should  have  been  eaten  in  the  holy  place  by  the  priests  officiating 
(vi.  17).  It  hath  he  given  you.  The  reason  why  it  is  most  holy  and 
why  it  is  to  be  eaten  by  the  priests  is  here  assigned.  To  hear  the 
iniquity  of  the  worshipper,  in  this  case,  the  whole  assembly.  The 
victim  is  to  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  assembly,  and  so  are  the  priests. 
It  is  to  be  remembered  that  priest  and  victim  are  not  two  things,  that 
on  the  other  hand,  the  true  Mediator  is  in  himself  both  priest  and 
victim.  Hence  it  is  quite  intelligible  to  say  that  the  priest  bears  the 
iniquity  of  the  sinner  for  whom  he  makes  expiation  (Ex.  xxviii.  38). 
To  bear  iniquity  for  another  is  to  expiate.  To  atone  for  them  before 
the  Lord.  The  sin-sacrifice  primarily  expiates  sin.  But  wherever 
there  is  expiation,  there  cannot  but  be  satisfaction  as  its  inseparable 
18 


138  OTHEK  EVENTS  OF  THE  OPENING  SERVICE. 

iniquity  of  the  assembly,  to  atone  for  tliem  before  the  Lord. 
18.  Behold  its  blood  hath  not  been  brought  into  the  holy  place 
within :  ye  should  indeed  have  eaten  it  in  the  holy  place,  as  I 
have  commanded.  19.  And  Aaron  spake  unto  Moses,  Behold, 
to-day  have  they  offered  their  sin-sacrifice  and  their  burnt- 
accompaniment,  and  therefore  full  atonement.  This  propitiation  is 
that  which  is  properly  signified  by  the  priest  burning  the  fat  upon  the 
altar  and  eating  the  flesh  before  the  Lord.  18.  Its  blood  has  not  been 
brought  into  the  holy  place  within}^  Hence,  according  to  vi.  19,  22, 
23,  it  should  have  been  eaten  in  the  holy  place.  The  law  was  clearly 
as  Moses  has  stated.  It  was  a  matter  of  fact  that  the  blood  had  not 
been  spattered  on  the  veil  or  put  upon  the  horns  of  the  golden  altar ; 
and  the  flesh  of  the  victim  it  was  in  that  case  ordinary  for  the  priest 
that  expiated  with  it  to  eat.  19.  The  sons  of  Aaron  were  pi'obably 
abashed  by  the  rebuke  of  Moses.  At  all  events,  they  reply  not,  and 
Aaron  speaks  for  them.  To-day  have  they  offered  their  sin-sacrifice 
and  their  burnt-sacrifice.  The  state  of  things  seems  to  have  been  this. 
The  sin-sacrifice  of  the  priests  was  to  be  burnt  on  the  ash-heap.  That 
for  the  people  might  have  been  eaten  by  the  officiating  priest  in  token 
of  the  full  acceptance  of  the  people.  But  meanwhile  the  presumptuous 
offering  of  strange  fire  by  two  of  those  who  had  that  day  joined  in  a 
common  sin  and  burnt  sacrifice  brought  out  the  fire  of  vengeance  upon 
the  reckless  transgressors.  In  these  circumstances  it  was  felt  by 
Aaron  that  expiation  should  be  prominent,  and  propitiation  in  the  back- 
ground, as  in  the  cases  of  the  high-priest  or  the  congregation  sinning 
inadvertently  (iv.  3,  13).  Hence  the  kid  was  sent  to  be  burnt  without 
the  camp  as  a  type  of  the  awful  exjaiation  required  for  sin.  It  is  not 
to  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  eating  of  the  sin-sacrifice  was  a  feast 
of  joy.  Rather  was  it  a  meal  of  solemn  awe  in  view  of  the  absolute 
holiness  of  God.  Good  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord.  This  does  not  mean, 
would  it  have  been  accepted  ?  Doubtless  it  would,  seeing  it  was  in 
strict  accordance  with  the  statute  as  understood  by  Moses.  It  rather 
means,  would  it  have  been  in  God's  sight  suitable  under  the  circum- 
stances ?  There  were  two  ways  of  disposing  of  the  flesh  of  the  victim 
for  sin,  burning  it  in  the  clean  place  outside  the  camp,  or  eating  it 


LEVITICUS  X.  19,20.  1(39 

sacrifice  before  the  Lord,  and  such  things  befell  me :  and  had 
I  eaten  the  sin-sacrifice  to-day,  would  it  have  been  good  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Lord  ?  20.  And  Moses  heard,  and  it  was  good  in 
his  eyes.  ^ 

before  the  Lord  in  the  holy  place.  As  the  blood  was  not  brought 
within  the  sanctuary  it  was  the  right,  and  no  doubt  the  first  intention, 
of  the  officiating  priests  to  eat  the  flesh.  But  a  right  to  eat  is  not  an 
obligation,  if  there  be  an  alternative  allowed.  As  in  the  peace-offering 
and  the  oblation  accompanying  it,  that  which  was  not  eaten  was  to  be 
burnt  with  fire  (vii.  17;  viii.  32),  so  Aaron  might  forego  his  right  to 
eat,  and  burn  the  flesh  in  the  usual  manner.  Meanwhile,  therefore, 
when  the  avenging  judgment  of  God  came  down  upon  his  erring  sons, 
his  intention  was  altered.  Deep  sorrow  and  humiliation  so  unfitted 
his  mind  for  the  task,  that  he  declined  to  exercise  his  right  of  eating 
the  sin-victim,  and  hence  he  availed  himself  of  the  humbler  alterna- 
tive, and  sent  it  away  to  be  burnt  without  the  camp.  This  course 
commended  itself  as  proper  to  Moses  also,  when  the  whole  circum- 
stances were  laid  before  him.  This  case  is  peculiarly  interesting  on  this 
ground,  that  it  shows  a  reasonable  latitude  in  the  application  of  ritual 
canons  to  unexpected  circimistances.  It  exhibits  a  certain  freedom  in 
the  arrangement  of  the  minor  details,  Avhile  the  substance  of  the  rules 
is  still  kept  inviolate.  It  is  one  of  the  examples  we  occasionally  meet, 
of  a  distinction  being  judiciously  and  honestly  made  between  the  letter 
and  the  spirit  of  a  law.  It  does  not  therefore  stand  alone.  A  nota- 
ble instance  has  occui-red  to  us  in  the  consecration  of  the  priests,  where 
the  spattering  of  them  and  their  garments  with  the  mingled  oil  and 
blood  stands  before  the  filling  of  hands  in  the  specification  (Ex.  xxix. 
21),  and  after  it  in  the  execution  (Lev.  viii.  30).  Practice  must,  in 
fact,  vary  somewhat ;  principle  only  is  invariable.  Figures,  forms, 
types  may  and  must  vary,  while  the  archetype,  body,  or  substance  to 
which  they  refer  is  one  and  the  same.  This  principle  deserves  the 
attention  of  the  interpreter. 

KOTES. 
1.  Nadab  and  Ahiku,  K^in^axp^  nns ,  willing,  and  the  Father  himself 
The  former  seems  to  express  devotedness;   the  latter,  all  glory  to 


140  OTHER  EVENTS  OF  THE  OPENING  SERVICE. 

God.  Significant  names  of  children  indicate  tlie  wishes  and  hopes  of 
the  parents. 

4.  3Iishael  and  Elzaphan,  IS'^^X'J  ^5<T^'''a ,  who  is  as  God,  and  God 
protects,     ^xtis' ,  God  is  might. 

6.  "i^n'X';  '^JS'Vx  ■,  God  helps,  and  palm  tree. 

12.  Exedra  (Hisc). 

13.  Due,  ph,  statute,  that  which  is  determined  by  statute. 

18.  Within,  nri-'aQ,  that  which  faces  the  entrant  (Ges.),  or  that 
which  is  sequestered,  secret,  inmost  (F.). 


SECTION  III.  — CLEANSING  AND  ATONEMENT. 


XL    CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN  ANIMALS. 

This  section  of  six  chapters  contains  seven  communications  from 
the  Lord :  the  first  to  Moses  and  Aaron  for  the  people,  concerning 
clean  and  unclean  animals  (chap,  xi.)  ;  the  second  to  Moses  for  the 
people,  respecting  birth  (chap,  xii.)  ;  the  third  to  Moses  and  Aaron, 
about  the  discerning  of  leprosy,  in  chap.  xiii. ;  the  fourth  to  Moses,  con- 
cerning the  cleansing  of  the  leper ;  the  fifth  to  Moses  and  Aaron, 
about  leprosy  in  a  house,  both  in  chap.  xiv. ;  the  sixth  to  Moses  and 
Aaron  for  the  people,  concerning  issues,  in  chap.  xv.  ;  and  the  seventh 
to  Moses  for  Aaron,  after  the  death  of  his  two  eldest  sons,  relating  to 
the  day  of  atonement,  in  chap.  xvi.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the 
communications  to  Moses  and  Aaron  in  common  were  made  after  the 
consecration  of  Aaron.  Of  the  three  which  were  addressed  to  Moses 
alone,  that  concerning  birth  applied  to  married  women,  that  on  clean- 
sing referred  to  the  leper,  and  that  concerning  entrance  into  the  holy 
of  holies  applied  to  Aaron  the  high-priest.  As  Aaron  had  his  sacer- 
dotal duties  to  perform,  he  was  not  present  with  Moses  on  all  occasions 
when  he  had  a  communication  from  the  Lord.  The  arrangements 
concerning  cleansing  naturally  come  after  the  consecration  of  the 
priests ;  and  the  ordinance  for  entering  into  the  holy  of  holies  on  the 
day  of  atonement,  in  chap,  xvi.,  is  historically  connected  with  the  pro- 
fane attempt  of  Nadab  and  Abihu  to  appear  before  the  Lord  with 
strange  fire. 

In  a  salvation  which  restores  entire  fellowship  between  the  sinner 
and  his  Maker  whom  he  has  offended,  there  are  three  essential  and 
co-ordinate  elements,  pardon  of  sin,  propitiation  for  sin,  and  purification 
from  sin.  The  first  needs,  and  perhaps  admits  of,  no  figurative  repre- 
sentation. It  comes  forth  in  its  unadorned  simplicity  from  the  mercy 
of  God,  that  eternal  mystery  of  the  divine  breast,  that  prime  attribute 

141 


142  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN  ANIMALS. 

of  revelation,  that  inexhaustible  source  of  all  the  ways  and  means  of 
salvation.  The  second,  propitiation,  is  set  forth  in  the  manifold  sym- 
bols of  the  sacrifice  in  the  first  seven  chapters  of  this  book.  It  is  the 
nature  of  a  reality  to  be  one,  constant,  and  self-consistent  in  all  its 
evolutions  ;  but  it  is  characteristic  of  its  symbols  to  be  diverse,  variant, 
and  inconsistent  with  one  another  in  some  of  their  qualities.  Hence 
we  have  the  burnt-sacrifice,  the  oblation,  the  peace-offering,  the  sin- 
sacrifice,  and  the  trespass-offering,  variously  representative  each  of 
some  prominent  feature  of  one  and  the  same  propitiation.  These 
symbols  are  a  kind  of  prophecy,  and  therefore  follow  its  general  law 
in  foreshadowing  by  their  variety  the  diverse  aspects  of  the  same 
great  event,  while  it  is  yet  in  the  womb  of  futurity.  This  wondrous 
event  is  the  propitiation  for  sin,  which  these  sacrifices  forebode,  but 
do  not  accomplish.  The  third  great  requisite  of  salvation  is  moral  or 
spiritual  purification,  which  David  calls  the  creation  of  a  new  heart, 
the  renewal  of  a  right  spirit.  Propitiation  is  external ;  purification, 
internal.  Propitiation  tenders  on  behalf  of  the  defaulter  the  full 
practice  of  all  that  the  law  demands ;  purification  re-establishes  in  the 
heart  of  the  transgressor  the  living  principle  of  the  law  itself. 

Propitiation  and  purification  are  in  experience  inseparably  connec- 
ted. The  Mediator  propitiates  by  a  full  obedience  and  a  full  suffering 
unto  death  for  disobedience :  the  Spirit  of  God  purifies  by  presenting 
tliis  propitiation  to  the  unclouded  and  unveiled  heart  of  the  sinner, 
which  thereupon  becomes  disabused,  confiding,  consenting,  penitent, 
grateful,  loving.  Thus  it  may  be  said,  in  a  worthy  sense,  that  the 
propitiation  cleanses,  because  it  is  the  instrument  by  which  the  Spirit 
begets  repentance  in  the  soul.  The  word  is  said  to  purify,  because  it 
tells  of  propitiation  ;  it  is  the  gospel  of  reconciliation.  The  blood  is 
said  to  cleanse,  because  it  expiates  and,  in  conjunction  with  the  moral 
perfection  of  the  true  victim,  propitiates,  and  the  conception  and  ac- 
ceptance by  the  soul  of  this  atonement  stirs  the  very  depths  of  the  resus- 
citated affections.  If  the  Spirit  of  God  were  to  lift  the  veil  from  the 
human  heart  without  presenting  to  view  the  gospel  of  pardon  and 
propitiation,  a  far  different  tide  of  emotions  would  overwhelm  the 
soul.  From  the  immutably  holy  God  and  a  guilty  self  the  dark 
inference  would  be  the  doom  of  perpetual  death.  The  indescribable 
horror  of  despair  would  brood  over  the  conscience.     But  when  the 


LEVITICUS  XL  143 

Spirit  not  ouly  removes  the  veil  but  at  the  same  time  holds  out  mercy, 
proffers  pardon,  and  above  all  announces  propitiation,  the  dawn  of 
hope  rises  on  the  mind,  the  wonder  of  a  nascent  foith  swells  the  breast 
and  the  rising  emotions  of  repentance  towards  God  indicate  the  new 
birth  of  the  sovil.  This  clearly  shows  that  propitiation  made  for  man 
is  the  instrument  by  which  the  Spirit  begets  the  soul  anew  unto 
sanctification  of  life.  We  may  conceive  in  the  abstract  propitiation 
apart  from  purification.  But  propitiation  without  application  would 
be  a  mere  play  of  the  practical  faculty  without  a  purpose  and  without 
a  heart.  We  cannot,  however,  conceive  purification  brought  about 
without  the  glad  tidings  of  propitiation,  unless  we  will  call  the  despair 
of  self-condemnation  by  such  a  name.  Thus,  propitiation  without 
purification  as  an  effect  is  conceivable ;  but  purification  without 
propitiation  as  a  cause  or  concause,  is  not  conceivable. 

The  first  seven  chapters  of  this  book  set  forth  propitiation  in  type 
and  shadow.  The  next  three  record  the  consecration  of  the  pro- 
pitiator in  a  like  sense.  The  next  five  lay  all  animated  nature  under 
tribute  to  illustrate  the  distinction  between  the  clean  and  the  unclean, 
and  evoke  the  notion  of  moral  purification.  And  these  are  followed 
by  a  chapter  which  describes  the  grand  crowning  act  of  propitiation 
in  its  essential  and  effective  bearing  upon  the  cleansing  of  the  soul. 
This  chapter  is  therefore  of  transcendent  importance,  because  it  points 
to  propitiation  as  the  instrumental  cause,  in  the  hands  of  the  Spirit,  of 
sanctification,  and  thus  determines  the  ground  of  the  intimate  relation 
subsisting  between  them.  It  thus  forms  the  connecting  link  between 
the  seven  chapters  of  propitiation  and  the  five  chapters  of  purification, 
between  which  are  naturally  inserted  the  three  chapters  on  the  con- 
secration of  the  priests.  Hence  these  sixteen  chapters  form  a  compact, 
logical  whole,  and  constitute  the  first  part  of  the  Book  of  Leviticus. 

The  eleventh  chapter  distinguishes  the  clean  from  the  unclean 
among  cattle  (1-8)  ;  among  fish  (9-12)  ;  among  fowl  (13-25)  ;  among 
wild  beast  (26-28)  ;  and  among  creeping  things  (29-38).  It  declares 
unclean  the  carcass  of  an  animal  that  has  died  a  natural  death,  though 
it  were  clean  when  living,  and  eatable  when  slain  (39,  40),  and  then 
returns  to  other  classes  of  creeping  things  (41-43).  It  lays  down 
the  general  principle  that  God's  people  should  be  holy,  which  lies  at 
the  oTound  of  these  formal  distinctions  (44,  45),  and  sums  up  the 
whole  matter  in  two  concluding  verses  (46,  47). 


144  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN  ANIMALS. 

XI.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and  Aaron,  saying 
unto  them,  2.  Speak  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  saying,  This  is 
the  beast  that  ye  shall  eat  of  all  the  cattle  which  are  upon  the 
earth.  3.  All  that  parte th  the  hoof  and  hath  the  cleft  of  the 
cloofs,  that  raiseth  up  the  cud  among  the  cattle,  that  shall  ye 

1-8.  The  cattle.  1.  Unto  3Ioses  and  Aaron.  Aaron  has  now  been 
consecrated.  He  has  already  received  one  communication  directly 
from  God  (x.  8).  And  he  is  henceforth  associated  with  Moses  in 
the  reception  of  some  divine  instructions.  It  is  meet  that  lie  should 
understand  the  distinction  between  the  clean  and  the  unclean.  2. 
Speak  unto  the  sons  of  Israel.  It  is  necessary  that  the  people  also 
should  be  acquainted  with  these  regulations  which  were  to  be  carried 
out  in  their  daily  life.  The  beast.  This  is  the  generic  term  for 
animals.  It  is  employed  here  in  a  collective  sense,  to  denote  the 
several  kinds  of  cattle,  or  larger  gentle  animals,  which  are  familiar 
to  man.  3.  All  that  parteth  the  hoof^  in  which  there  is  a  visible 
division  of  the  hoof  into  two  parts.  And  hath  the  cleft  of  the  cloofs,^ 
in  wliifh  the  division  is  not  merely  on  the  surface,  but  beneath 
it,  so  that  the  hoof  is  severed  into  cloofs,  as  in  the  cow  or  sheep. 
T7iat  raiseth,^  or  bringeth  up  the  cud.  This  is  more  general  than 
what  is  now  technically  understood  by  ruminating  or  chewing  the  cud. 
The  latter  is  restricted  to  animals  called  ruminants,  which  have  a 
fourfold  stomach,  into  one  bag  of  which  the  imperfectly  masticated 
food  enters,  passes  into  the  second,  where  it  takes  the  form  of  moist 
pellets,  and  then  rises  into  the  mouth  to  be  perfectly  masticated. 
This  last  process  alone  is  regarded  in  the  expression  of  the  text ;  and 
this  occurs  partially  with  some  animals  that  have  not  the  fourfold 
stomach,  as  the  hare  and  the  kangaroo.  That  shall  ye  eat.  The  ani- 
mals so  distinguished  are  counted  as  clean  and  fit  for  food.  The  dis- 
tinction here  made  is  simply  ceremonial.  It  may  have  some  ground 
in  nature  which  it  is  competent  for  the  physiologist  to  investigate  and 
ascertain.  But  it  does  not  at  all  rest  on  the  "vanity"  and  "  corruption  " 
into  which  the  creation  has  sunk  in  consequence  of  the  fall  of  man 
(Keil),  inasmuch  as  this  is  universal,  and  therefore  affords  no  ground 
of  distinction  among  things  into  clean  and  unclean. 


LEVITICUS  XI.   4-9.  145 

eat.  4.  Only  this  ye  shall  not  eat,  of  those  that  raise  up  the 
cud  or  part  the  hoof:  the  camel,  because  it  raiseth  up  the  cud 
but  parteth  not  the  hoof,  it  is  unclean  to  you.  5.  And  the 
coney,  because  it  raiseth  up  the  cud  but  parteth  not  the  hoof, 
it  is  unclean  to  you.  6.  And  the  hare,  because  it  raiseth  the 
cud  but  parteth  not  the  hoof,  it  is  unclean  to  you.  7.  And 
the  hog,  because  it  parteth  the  hoof  and  cleaveth  the  hoof, 
but  raiseth  not  the  cud,  it  is  unclean  to  you.  8.  Of  their  flesh 
shall  ye  not  eat,  and  their  carcass  shall  ye  not  touch  :  they 
are  unclean  to  you. 

9.  This  shall  ye  eat  of  all  that  is  in  the  water,  all  that  hath 
fin  and  scale  in  the  water  ;  in  the  seas  and  in  the  rivers,  this 
shall  ye  eat.  10.  And  all  that  hath  not  fin  nor  scale  in  the 
seas  and  in  the  rivers,  of  all  that  move  in  the  water,  and  of  all 
living  things  which  are  in  the  water,  they  shall  be  loathsome 
to  you.     11.  They  shall  even  be  loathsome  to  you  ;  of  their 

4-8.  Certain  animals  having  one  of  these  qualities  and  wanting 
another  are  excluded  from  the  class  of  the  clean  and  the  allowable  for 
food.  The  camel^  because  it  does  not  part  the  hoof,  though  it  chews 
the  cud.  5.  The  coney.^  This  is  another  name  for  the  rabbit.  It 
is,  however,  believed  by  many  to  be  the  hyrax,  a  pachyderm  inter- 
mediate between  the  rhinoceros  and  the  tapir,  resembling  the  rabbit, 
but  smaller,  and  of  a  dull  russet  color  (Dr.  Thomson).  The  term 
"coney,"  being  more  familiar  to  us,  is  retained  in  the  translation. 
6.  The  hare  ^  and  the  coney  agree  in  bringing  up  the  cud,  but  do  r  ot 
part  the  hoof.  They  are  not  what  are  technically  called  ruminants, 
as  they  have  not  the  fourth  stomach,  and  hence  the  legislator  excludes 
them.  7.  Tlie  hog ''  has  cloofs,  but  in  strictness  there  are  four  of  them, 
instead  of  two.  It  is  not,  therefore,  of  the  normal  class,  and  it  does 
not  chew  the  cud.  It  was  avoided  as  food  by  many  of  the  ancients, 
on  account  of  its  uncleanliness.  8.  Their  carcass.  The  dead  body 
of  any  of  them  ye  shall  not  touch.     It  conveys  uncleanness. 

9-12.  The  natives  of  the  water.  The  fish  that  has  fins  and  scales' 
19 


146  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN  ANIMALiS. 

flesh  shall  ye  not  eat  and  their  carcass  ye  shall  loathe.  12. 
All  that  hath  not  fin  nor  scale  in  the  water,  that  shall  be 
loathsome  to  you. 

13.  And  these  of  the  fowl  ye  shall  loathe ;  they  shall  not  be 
eaten,  they  are  loathsome :  the  eagle  and  the  ospray  and  the 
sea-eagle  ;  14.  And  the  vulture  and  the  kite  after  its  kind  ; 
15.  Every  raven  after  its  kind ;     16.  And  the  ostrich  and  the 

may  be  eaten.  Other  aquatic  animals,  whether  fish  properly  so  called, 
or  not,  are  to  be  an  object  of  loathing.  Hence  all  amphibious  reptiles, 
molluscs,  crustaceans,  annelids,  echinoderms,  and  acalephs  are  excluded. 
In  the  seas  and  in  the  rivers.  The  same  test  applies  to  fresh-water 
and  to  salt-water  fish.  Those  without  fins  and  scales  have  their  uses  ; 
but  they  are  to  be  loathsome  to  the  taste  or  the  touch. 

13-25.  Those  that  wing  their  way  in  the  air.     These ye  shall 

loathe.  The  exceptions  are  here  set  down.  The  rest  are  suitable  or 
allowable  for  food.  Twenty  species  are  here  forbidden.  The  eagle  ^^ 
is  well  known.  It  is  the  king  of  birds.  It  hunts  and  slays  for  itself, 
but  occasionally  preys  upon  fresh  carrion.  The  os'pray}^  This  is  the 
ossifrage,  or  gypatus  barbatus,  the  lammer-geier  of  the  Swiss,  the  aquila 
ossifraga  of  the  Romans.  The  name  ospray  or  ossifragus  is  derived  from 
the  supposition  that  it  let  its  prey  fall  from  a  great  height  on  the  rocks 
to  break  its  bones  (Plin.  Nat.  Hist.  xxx.  7).  The  sea  eagle^^  pandion 
haliaetus,  called  also  the  fish-hawk.  It  subsists  on  fish,  on  which  it 
pounces  with  incredible  velocity.  14.  The  vulture.^*  The  vulture 
has  the  head  and  part  of  the  neck  destitute  of  feathers,  is  weak  in  the 
talons  and  strong  in  the  beak,  is  of  a  cowardly  nature,  and  usually 
feeds  upon  carrion.  The  vultures  are  the  scavengers  of  the  land,  and 
form  a  very  numerous  tribe.  The  kite.^*  This  rapacious  bird  is 
placed  by  Linnaeus  under  the  genus  falco.  It  has  a  forked  tail  and 
long  wings,  a  short  and  weak  beak  and  leg,  and  hence  it  is  the  most 
cowardly  of  all  birds  of  prey.  It  seizes  upon  small  quadrupeds,  birds, 
and  chickens.  15.  Every  raven.^^  This  is  of  the  genus  corvus.  It 
flies  high,  scents  carrion  afar,  and  feeds  not  only  on  this,  but  on  seeds, 
fruit,  and  small  animals.  Hence  it  is  troublesome  to  the  farmer.  It 
is   mentioned  as  early  as  Gen.  viii.  7.     16.    The  ostrich.^^     This  is 


LEVITICUS  XL  16-18.  147 

night-hawk  and  the  gull  and  the  hawk  after  its  kind ;     17. 
The  owl  and  the  cormorant  and  the  ibis :  18.  And  the  coot 


literally  the  daughter  of  the  ostrich,  according  to  the  custom  in  the 
East,  of  using  the  words  "  father,"  "  mother,"  "  son,"  "  daughter,"  to 
denote  analogous  relations  of  the  most  general  kind.  It  includes  both 
sexes,  though  feminine  in  form.  This  is  the  largest  of  fowls,  being 
four  feet  from  the  ground  to  the  back,  and  seven  or  eight  to  the  crown 
of  the  head.  It  exceeds  in  running  the  swiftness  of  the  horse.  It  is 
negligent  of  its  nest.  It  feeds  on  seeds  and  plants,  and  probably 
lizards,  snakes,  and  young  birds.  It  swallows  indiscriminately  almost 
anything,  even  stones  or  glass.  It  has  a  doleful  howl.  Hence  its 
name  has  been  rendered  daughter  of  screeching.  Tlie  night-hawh}^ 
This  is  a  bird  of  the  night,  common  to  Egypt  and  Syria.  It  feeds  on 
insects,  but  has  been  called  the  goat-sucker,  and  accused  of  entering 
at  an  open  window  and  sucking  the  blood  of  infants,  without  any 
warrant.  TJie  guIU^  This  is  of  the  genus  larus,  frequents  the  shores 
in  aU  latitudes,  and  is  a  great  devourer  of  fish.  It  may  include  the 
tern.  The  hawk.  This  is  of  the  genus  falco.  Most  of  the  species 
are  rapacious,  feeding  on  birds  and  other  small  animals.  It  abounds 
in  Western  Asia  and  Egypt.  17.  The  owl.  The  genus  strix  flies 
chiefly  in  the  night,  and  feeds  on  small  mammalia,  little  birds,  and 
insects.  It  is  common  to  all  countries,  but  chiefly  abounds  in  cold 
climates.  The  cormorant^''  the  sea-raven,  a  large  fowl  of  the  pelican 
kind,  feeds  on  fish,  and  is  very  voracious.  It  is  found  in  the  old  and 
new  hemispheres.  Tlie  ibis.  This  is  one  of  the  grallae,  or  wading 
birds.  Cuvier  has  proved  that  it  is  a  kind  of  curlew.  It  feeds  on 
shell-fish,  and  it  is  said  on  serpents.  It  frequents  Egypt  and  Arabia. 
18.  T}ie  coot.^^  This  bird  is  called  the  porphyrion,  or  purple  bird, 
its  color  being  that  of  indigo  mingled  with  red.  It  frequents  marshes, 
stands  on  one  leg,  and  holds  its  prey  in  the  claws  of  the  other.  It  is 
found  in  the  Levant  and  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean.  It  was 
an  object  of  idolatry,  and  kept  tame  in  the  vicinity  of  the  temples. 
The  pelican  '^  is  remarkable  for  an  enormous  bill,  and  in  the  under 
chap  a  pouch  capable  of  holding  many  quarts.  Here  it  deposits  the 
fish  it  has  caught,  and  with  these  feeds  its  young,  of  which  it  is  very 


148  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN  ANIMALS. 

and  the  pelican  and  the  gier-eagle  ;  19.  And  the  stork,  the 
heron  after  its  kind,  and  the  hoopoe  and  the  bat. 

20.  All  winged  creepers,  that  go  on  all  four,  shall  be  loath- 
some to  you.  21.  Only  this  ye  may  eat  of  all  winged  creepers, 
that  go  on  all  four,  that  hath  legs  above  its  feet  to  hop  withal 
upon  the  earth.    22.  These  of  them  ye  may  eat,  the  locust  after 

fond.  It  is  found  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  The  gier-eagle}^  This 
is  the  vultur  percnopterus,  commonly  called  Pharaoh's  chicken.  It 
visits  Palestine  in  the  summer,  and  feeds  on  carrion.  19.  The  stork^^ 
is  of  the  heron  tribe,  feeds  on  fish,  reptiles,  worms,  and  insects,  is  found 
in  Europe,  Africa,  and  Western  Asia,  and  on  the  New  Continent.  It 
is  noted  for  its  harmless  disposition  and  its  attachment  to  its  young. 
It  builds  on  the  roofs  of  houses,  and  is  familiar  with  man.  The 
heronP  The  genus  ardea  is  a  great  devourer  of  fish,  and  is  found  all 
over  the  world.  The  hoopoe  '^  is  of  the  genus  upupa,  has  a  beautiful 
crest  variously  waving,  feeds  on  insects,  worms,  and  snails,  and  is 
found  in  Egypt  and  Palestine.  The  bat  ^^  belongs  to  the  class  vesper- 
tilio,  has  a  membrane  between  the  fingers  or  claws  which  enables  it 
to  fly,  reposes  during  the  day,  and  hibernates  during  the  winter,  and 
preys  by  night  on  insects.  The  vampire  bat,  which  is  found  in 
Southern  Asia,  makes  a  small  wound  in  the  toe  of  the  sleeper,  out  of 
which  it  sucks  blood  till  it  sometimes  causes  death.  The  smaller  bat 
is  found  in  Palestine.  The  bat  is  the  natural  transition  from  the  fowl 
proper  to  the  winged  creeper. 

20-2-5.  The  winged  creepers.  20.  Winged  creepers  or  swarmers 
are  so  called  from  their  minuteness  and  their  multitude.  That  go  on 
all  four.  They  crawl  on  the  ground  with  four  feet.  These  are  to 
be  avoided  as  loathsome.  21.  That  hath  legs  above  its  feet.  This 
describes  an  excepted  class  that  may  be  eaten.  With  these  legs  they 
are  able  to  hop  on  the  ground.  They  are  specified  in  the  next  verse. 
22.  The  four  classes  of  edible  locusts  are  here  enumerated.  We 
cannot  distinguish  these  classes  otherwise  than  by  the  meaning  of 
their  names.  The  locusts,^  see  on  Ex.  x.  4,  where  the  species  is  men- 
tioned. It  is  named  so  from  its  multiplying  or  being  gregarious. 
The  gulper.^     This  is  a  mere  translation  of  the  name.      The  hopper.^ 


LEVITICUS  XI.    22-29.  149 

its  kind,  and  the  gulper  after  its  kind,  and  the  hopper  after  its 
kind,  and  the  cricket  after  its  kind.  23.  And  every  winged 
creeper,  which  hath  four  feet,  shall  be  loathsome  unto  you. 
24.  And  for  these  ye  shall  be  unclean ;  all  that  touch  their 
carcass  shall  be  unclean  until  the  even.  25  And  whosoever 
taketh  up  aught  of  their  carcass  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  be 
unclean  until  the  even. 

26.  All  cattle  that  part  the  hoof  and  have  not  the  cleft  nor 
raise  the  cud,  these  are  unclean  to  you ;  every  one  that  touch- 
eth  them  shall  be  unclean.  27.  And  whatsoever  walketli  upon 
its  paws  among  all  animals  that  walk  on  all  four,  they  are 
unclean  unto  you ;  every  one  that  toucheth  their  carcass  shall 
be  unclean  until  the  even.  28.  And  he  that  taketh  up  their 
carcass  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  be  unclean  until  the  even  : 
they  are  unclean  to  you.  § 

29.  And  this  shall  be  unclean  to  you,  among  the  creepers 
that  creep  on  the  earth,  the  weasel  and  the  mouse  and  the 

The  same  remark  applies  to  this  term.  This  is  variously  rendered 
cutter  or  leaper.  The  cricket?^  These  names  denote,  not  certain 
stages  of  the  one  locust,  but,  according  to  the  text,  certain  kinds  of 
this  large  tribe.  23.  Winged  creeper  which  hath  four  feet.  All  of 
this  class  are  unclean.  He  that  touches  them  shall  wash  his  clothes 
and  be  unclean  until  the  evening. 

26-28.  Other  larger  land  animals.  26.  Gentle  animals  that  part 
the  hoof,  but  do  not  divide  it  into  cloofs  nor  bring  up  the  cud,  are  here 
for  the  first  time  enumerated.  They  are  placed  here  because  in  the 
view  of  the  legislator  they  are  closely  allied  to  those  comprehended  in 
the  following  verses.  27.  Whatsoever  walketh  upon  its  paws.  The 
paw  is  the  sole  of  the  foot  unprotected  by  a  hoof.  Cats,  dogs,  and 
most  of  the  wild  or  ferocious  animals  come  under  this  head.  Toucheth 
the  carcass.  To  touch  the  living  body  of  an  animal  of  this  kind  did 
not  necessarily  produce  defilement.     But  the  dead  body  is  defiling. 

29-88.  Creeping  things.     29.   The  weasel^  is  common  in  Europe, 


150  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN  ANIMALS. 

lizard  after  its  kind.  30.  And  the  gecko  and  the  skink  and 
the  newt  and  the  stelHon  and  the  chameleon.  31.  These  are 
unclean  to  you  among  all  creepers ;  all  that  touch  their  carcass 
shall  be  unclean  until  the  even.  32.  And  everything  on  which 
any  of  them  when  dead  falls  shall  he  unclean  ;  every  vessel  of 
wood  or  raiment  or  skin  or  sack,  whatever  vessel  it  be  wherein 
work  is  done,  it  shall  be  put  into  water  and  be  unclean  until 
the  even,  and  then  be  clean,  33.  And  every  earthen  vessel 
whereinto  any  of  them  falleth,  all  that  is  in  it  shall  be  unclean, 
and  it  ye  shall  break.     34.  All  food  which  may  be  eaten  upon 


Asia,  and  America,  feeds  on  mice,  rats,  moles,  and  small  birds.  The 
mouse?^  This  is  not  the  jerboa  (Boch.),  but  the  field-mouse,  which 
is  very  destructive  to  grain.  The  lizardP  This  word  occurs  only 
here  in  this  sense.  The  lizards  are  a  very  numerous  class  in  the 
East.  This  is  perhaps  the  dabb  of  the  Arabs  which  bears  the  same 
name.  30.  The  gecko^is,  found  in  the  East,  is  of  a  reddish-grey  color, 
spotted  with  brown,  feeds  on  insects,  and  utters  a  croak  or  groan 
somewhat  like  a  frog.  The  skink '^  is  the  waran  el -hard,  the  varanus 
arenarius,  the  land-lizard  of  Herodotus.  It  abounds  in  the  deserts 
of  Arabia.  It  sometimes  reaches  six  feet  in  length.  It  feeds  on 
insects.  The  newt  ^  is  a  species  of  salamander.  It  is  called  the  triton 
cr {status,  and  dwells  in  Europe  and  Western  Asia.  The  salaman- 
ders border  on  the  lizards  and  frogs.  The  stellion  ^^  is  noted  for  bow- 
ing the  head.  Hence  the  Mahometans  kill  it,  because  it  mimics  their 
motion  in  prayer.  It  is  common  in  Palestine,  and  infests  the  pyra- 
mids. The  chameleon^  This  is  a  kind  of  lizard,  having  four  feet  and 
on  each  five  toes,  arranged  two  against  three.  It  is  of  a  bluish-grey 
color  in  the  shade,  and  of  a  tawny  color  in  the  sun.  Its  changes  of 
color  are  ascribed  by  some  to  its  capacious  lungs  and  by  others  to 
a  double  layer  of  pigment.  It  lives  on  insects,  and  is  a  native  of  Asia 
and  Africa.  31.  Contact  with  tliese  defiles.  32.  That  on  which  any 
part  of  their  carcass  falls  shall  pass  through  water  and  be  unclean 
until  the  evening.  33.  And  the  earthen  vessel  shall  be  broken,  be- 
cause being  porous  it  is  liable  to  absorb  the  defilement,  so  that  it  could 


LEVITICUS  XI.  34-41.  151 

which  water  cometh  shall  be  unclean ;  and  all  drink  that  may 
be  drunk  in  any  vessel  shall  be  unclean.  35.  And  everything 
on  which  part  of  their  carcass  falleth  shall  be  unclean  ;  oven 
or  pot,  it  shall  be  broken ;  they  are  unclean ;  and  they  shall 
be  unclean  to  you.  36.  Only  a  spring  and  a  well,  a  gathering 
of  water,  shall  be  clean  ;  and  that  which  toucheth  their  carcass 
shall  be  unclean.  37.  And  when  part  of  their  carcass  falleth 
on  any  sowing-seed  which  is  to  be  sown  it  shall  be  clean.  38. 
And  when  water  is  put  on  the  seed  and  part  of  their  carcass 
falleth  upon  it  it  shall  be  unclean  to  you.  § 

39.  And  when  any  of  the  cattle,  which  ye  may  have  for  food, 
dieth,  he  that  toucheth  its  carcass  shall  be  unclean  until  the 
even.  40.  And  he  that  eateth  of  its  carcass  shall  wash  his 
clothes  and  be  unclean  until  the  even ;  and  he  that  beareth  its 
carcass  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  be  unclean  until  the  even. 
41.  And  every  creeper  that  creepeth  on  the  earth  is  loath- 

not  be  removed  by  washing.  34.  The  food  on  which  it  falls,  if  pre- 
pared with  water,  shall  be  unclean,  and  likewise  the  drink,  because 
the  impurity  pervades  the  fluid,  or  that  which  is  steeped  in  it.  If  dry, 
that  part  of  the  food  may  be  removed  which  was  in  contact  with  the 
unclean  thing.  35.  The  vessel  on  wliich  it  falls  shall  be  unclean. 
Oven  or  pot.  These  are  earthenware.  The  pot  consists  of  two  parts, 
a  dish  and  a  lid,  and  hence  it  is  in  the  dual  number.  These  shall  be 
broken ;  for  they  are  unclean,  and  you  are  so  to  regard  and  treat 
them.  36.  A  well  or  pool  of  water,  which  is  continually  purifying 
itself  by  overflowing  or  precipitation,  is  to  be  regarded  as  clean.  But 
the  portion  that  is  in  contact  with  the  carcass  is  unclean.  37.  Dry 
sowing-seed  is  not  so  defiled  or  rendered  unfit  for  sowing.  38.  But 
if  it  be  soaked  in  water  it  is  unclean. 

39-45.  Concluding  regulations.  39.  He  that  touches  the  carcass 
of  a  clean  animal  that  has  died  a  natural  death  shall  be  unclean  until 
the  evening.  40.  He  that  eats  of  it  or  carries  of  it  shall  be  unclean. 
It  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  former  partook  of  this  defiling  fare  un- 
wittingly.    41.  All  creepers  are  loathsome,  and  are  not  to  be  eaten. 


152  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN  ANIMALS. 

some :  it  shall  not  be  eaten.  42.  All  that  goetli  on  the  belly 
and  all  that  goeth  on  all  four,  with  all  that  hath  many 
feet  of  all  creepers  that  creep  on  the  earth,  ye  shall  not  eat 
them,  for  they  are  loathsome.  43.  Ye  shall  not  make  your 
souls  loathsome  with  any  creeper  that  creepeth,  nor  shall  ye 
defile  yourselves  with  them  nor  be  defiled  with  them.  44.  For 
I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  and  ye  shall  sanctify  yourselves,  and 

42.  So  are  all  that  go  on  the  belly,  as  serpents  and  worms,  all  that 
go  on  four  feet  among  the  small  animals,  as  rats  and  mice,  and  all 
that  have  many  feet,  that  is,  more  than  four,  including  various  kinds 
of  insects.  43.  Tour  souls,  that  is,  your  living  bodies,  your  persons, 
yourselves.  Loathsome,  objects  of  religious  abhorrence.  Defile  your- 
selves   nor  be  defiled.     The  repetition  is  emphatic.     The  former 

intimates  some  degree  of  activity  in  getting  oneself  defiled.  44.  The 
transcendent  reason  for  avoiding  impurity  is  now  assigned.  F'or  lam 
the  Lord  your  God.  I  am  holy.  And  ye  who  are  to  be  in  fellowship 
with  me  must  be  holy.  This  reason  lifts  us  up  above  all  ceremonial 
purity  to  that  siDiritual  purity  of  which  the  former  is  merely  the 
shadow.  The  aim  of  this  laborious  chapter  now  at  length  stands 
before  the  mind.  It  awakens  and  sharpens  the  sense  of  the  distinc- 
tion between  the  clean  and  the  unclean  in  material  things,  and  thus 
prepares  for  a  keen  and  unerring  sense  of  the  difference  between  right 
and  wrong,  between  moral  good  and  evil.  The  distinction  between 
animals  as  clean  and  unclean  is  mainly  ceremonial.  In  their  own 
line  all  things  are  pure ;  every  creature  of  God  is  good  in  itself  and 
for  its  proper  end.  Only  in  a  typical  sense  and  in  a  certain  relation  to 
man  is  there  a  distinction  of  things  into  clean  and  unclean.  And  only 
when  we  come  to  man  do  we  meet  with  a  moral  nature,  and,  to  our 
blame  and  shame,  with  moral  defilement.  The  shunning  of  ceremo- 
nial impurity  calls  forth  and  exercises  the  sense  of  moral  distinctions. 
But  it  is  not  merely  the  distinction  of  clean  and  unclean  that  is  taught 
in  this  chapter.  This  might  be  a  mere  intellectual  exercise  of  no 
moral  significance.  We  now  see  the  point  of  the  word  loathing  or 
loathsome  when  it  is  so  often  repeated.  "Were  it  not  tiiat  instinct 
awakens  in  us  an  abhorrence  of  most  of  the  unclean  animals  mentioned, 


LEVITICUS  XI.  42-44.  153 

ye  shall  be  holy,  for  I  am  holy:  and  ye  shall  not  defile  your 
souls  with  any  creeper  that  creepeth  ou  the  earth.     45.  For  I 

and  of  the  carcass  of  a  dead  animal,  we  might  think  it  strange  that  we 
should  be  required  not  merely  to  avoid,  but  to  loathe  such  objects. 
But  when  we  rise  to  moral  questions  we  find  that  right  and  wrong, 
good  and  evil,  rest  on  self-evident  principles.  And  hence  when  reason 
distinguishes  between  right  and  wrong,  conscience  inevitably  approves 
of  the  right  and  abhors  the  wrong.  This  alone  brings  out  the  full 
force  and  point  of  the  loathing  which  we  are  so  frequently  called  upon 
to  feel  toward  that  which  is  unclean.  This  loathing  becomes  even 
more  intensified  by  contrast.  When  the  Lord  reveals  himself  to  the 
sinful  soul  as  merciful  and  gracious,  penitence  and  purity  of  heart 
come  to  the  birth.  This  involves  a  peculiar  loathing  of  sin  on  the 
one  hand,  and  a  growing  love  of  holiness  on  the  other.  All  this  is 
summed  up  in  that  evangelical  watchword,  "  I  am  the  Lord  your  God," 
which  has  met.  us  so  often  and  cheered  us  so  much  in  the  reading  of 
the  Old  Testament.  It  is  the  opening  sentence  of  the  ten  words 
spoken  from  Sinai.  He  who  addresses  us  is  God,  the  only  absolutely 
and  eternally  Almighty ;  thy  God  having  come  to  thee  with  the  in- 
vitation of  mercy,  and  having  made  thee  willing  by  his  Spirit  to  accept 
the  invitation,  and  become  his  as  he  has  become  yours ;  the  Lord 
THY  God,  the  Self-existent,  the  Author  of  all  that  exists,  the  Keeper 
of  covenant,  and  Performer  of  promise  is  thy  God.  Nothing  can 
transcend  this.  A)id  ye  shall  sanctify  yourselves.  The  gospel  con- 
tained in  the  above  words  will  sanctify  you  so  far  as  word  or  truth 
or  deed  can  do  it.  If  by  this  gospel,  explicitly  or  implicitly,  ye  be 
not  softened,  shamed,  drawn  to  God,  sanctified,  there  is  no  instrument 
by  which  you  can  be  sanctified.  Te  shall  he  holy,  for  1  am  holy. 
Another  fundamental  principle.  After  the  image  of  God  man  was 
made.  After  his  image,  if  renewed  at  all,  he  must  be  renewed.  This 
sentence  finds  its  multiplied  echo  reverberating  through  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testament.  And  ye  shall  not  defile  your  souls  with  any  creep- 
ing thing.  A  descent,  and  yet  not  a  descent,  but  a  uniform  carrying 
out  of  the  one  great  principle  into  all  the  details  of  a  moral  life.  45. 
The  great  God  of  mercy  and  grace  raises  up  the  heart  of  the  people 
once  more  to  the  principle  of  the  gospel,  and  recalls  to  their  mind  the 


154  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN  ANIMALS. 

am  the  Lord  that  brought  you  up  from  the  land  of  Mizraim  to 
be  your  God :  and  ye  shall  be  holy,  for  I  am  holy. 

46.  This  is  the  law  of  the  cattle  and  of  the  fowl  and  of  every 
living  thing  that  moveth  in  the  water,  with  every  thing  that 
creepeth  on  the  earth.  47.  To  separate  between  the  unclean 
and  the  clean  ;  and  between  the  beast  that  may  be  eaten  and 
the  beast  that  may  not  be  eaten.  ^  H  II 

grandest  practical  illustration  of  it  within  their  experience,  namely, 
the  deliverance  from  the  land  of  bondage. 

46,  47.  The  recapitulation.  This  is  the  law,  the  doctrine  or  disci- 
pline concerning  every  kind  of  living  creature.  To  separate  or  dis- 
tinguish between  two  things,  first  between  the  clean  and  the  unclean, 
and  next  between  that  which  may  be  eaten  and  that  which  may  not. 
After  the  key  we  have  received  to  the  bearing  and  import  of  this 
chapter,  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  rest  in  the  mere  natural  or  ceremo- 
nial significance  of  these  words.  They  have  undoubtedly  also  a  moral 
meaning.  In  this  their  widest  and  truest  meaning  they  divide  all 
morality  into  two  parts,  our  duty  to  others  and  our  duty  to  ourselves. 
When  we  distinguish  between  the  morally  clean  and  unclean  we 
learn  what  is  right  and  good  towards  our  God  and  towards  our  neigh- 
bors, and  what  is  the  contrary.  "When  we  distinguish  between  what 
is  to  be  eaten  and  what  is  not,  we  learn  by  a  striking  example  what 
is  to  be  enjoyed  and  what  is  not  to  be  enjoyed,  what  is  allowable  and 
what  is  not,  what  is  the  lawful  gratification  of  the  appetite  and  what 
the  unlawful,  even  in  things  allowable.  In  a  word,  we  have  before  us 
the  two  great  branches  of  scriptural  and  rational  morals  — justice  and 
temperance.  The  former  has  been  more  or  less  illustrated  and  enforced ; 
the  latter  has  been  most  culpably  and  ruinously  neglected.  They 
stand  upon  a  par  in  Scripture.  This  is  not  the  place  to  treat  of  them 
at  length. 

KOTES. 
3.  Parting  the  hoof,  no-iQ  nG-iBa .     Having  the  deft  of  the  cloofs, 
rb"ji5  rb'JJ  rrob .     The  old  word  cloof  serves  to  express  the  meaning 
of  the  plural  noun  here.     liaising  the  cud,  n"na  rbs-q .     nnj   is  that 
which  is  sawn,  crushed,  chewed. 


LEVITICUS  XI.  155 

4.  Camel,  ^»J ,  the  strong,  complete,  or  fully  grown ;  r.  fnish, 
ripen.  No  animal  is  more  obviously  or  completely  fitted  for  its  place. 
Its  padded  feet  and  its  stomach  having  an  arrangement  for  containing 
a  store  of  water  for  many  days  are  among  its  prominent  adaptations 
for  the  desert.  It  is  a  native  of  Arabia  and  is  a  most  serviceable  help 
to  the  Bedawin. 

5.  Coney,  "jS^y,  burrowing  (Ges.)  gnawing  (F.),  Zaxrvirovi  (Sept.)  ;  a 
quadruped  living  gregariously  among  rocks  (Ps.  civ.  18 ;  Prov.  xxx. 
26),  the  hyrax,  jerboa  (Ges.),  rabbit  or  the  like.  Elsewhere  only 
in  Deut.  xiv.  7. 

6.  Hare,  rapN  =  r^iX  ,  leaper,  runner,  p^oipoypi'XXtos ;  r.  :i3"i  or  a5X , 
go  before,  hasten.     Only  here  and  in  Deut.  xiv.  7. 

7.  Hog,  ^■'W.,  turning,  or  strong;  r.  turn,  wind,  he  strong,  vs.  It 
occurs  seven  times  in  Scripture. 

9.  Fin,  "I'^Qip ;  r.  C;2D ,  move,  wave,  row.  Scale,  rbj^bi^ ,  bbp , 
peel,  scale. 

13.  Eagle,  ^ds,  tearer,  deros.  It  pounces  suddenly  upon  its  prey 
(Hab.  i.  8),  moults  its  feathers  annually  (Isa.  xl.  31  ;  Ps.  ciii.  5), 
makes  its  nest  on  the  crag  (Job  xxxix.  27),  takes  great  care  of  its 
young  (Deut.  xxxii.  11),  and  lives  long  (Ezek.  i.  10).  Ospray,  b'^Q, 
breaking,  severing,  ypvip.  Only  here  and  in  Deut.  xiv.  12.  Sea- 
eagle,  !^*?^^* ,  strong  or  keen-sighted,  dAtatero?. 

14.  Vulture,  ns'n,  rushing,  rapid,  yvxj/.  Only  here.  In  Deut.  ns'i. 
Kite,  n;^x,  said  to  be  so  named  from  its  cry,  ''N ,  iktivos.  Also  in 
Deut.  xiv.  13  and  Job  xxviii.  7.  It  is  keen-sighted.  Here  it  is 
regarded  as  a  genus. 

15.  Haven,  'zy) ,  dark-colored,  Kopa^. 

16.  Ostrich,  M:^';*r!"n3,  daughter  of  screeching,  moaning,  orpovOos. 
Night-hawlc,  b'^nn,  bird  of  violence,  yXav^.  Also  in  Deut.  xiv.  15. 
Gull,  rin^S  lean,  Xdpo<s.  Also  in  Deut.  xiv.  15.  Hawk,  yi,  swift  in 
flight.     Also  in  Deut.  xiv.  15  and  Job  xxxix.  26. 

17.  Owl,  tn'3 ,  having  a  cup  or  pouch,  wKTtKopai.  Bochart  takes 
it  to  be  the  pelican  or  cormorant.  It  is  mentioned  in  Deut.  xiv.  1 6 
and  Ps.  cii.  7.  Cormorant,  "^'j ,  casting  itself  down  from  high  rocks 
to  pounce  upon  fish,  KarapaKriqs.  Also  in  Deut.  xiv.  17.  Ihis,  Tj^os^, 
blowing  like  a  horn,  i/Sis,  the  Egyptian  heron,  inhabiting  marshy  places 
(Deut.  xiv.  16;  Isa.  xxxiv.  11). 


156  PURIFICATION  OF  WOMEN. 

18.  Coot,  nariPi,  7rop(fivpL(jjv.  The  same  word  occurs  with  a  different 
meaning  in  vs.  30.  Fuerst  makes  it  a  kind  of  owl.  Also  in  Deut. 
xiv.  16.  Pelican,  ^^"i^,  vomiting,  ircXeKav.  It  is  variously  rendered 
by  the  Sept.  pelican,  gannet,  chameleon,  and  bird.  Also  in  Deut.  xiv. 
17;  Ps.  cii.  7;  Isa.  xxxi.  11;  Zeph.  ii.  11.  Gier-eagle,  Dn"!,  affec- 
tionate, KVKvo^  and  hroxp.     Also  in  Deut  xiv.  17. 

19.  Stork,  iT^■p^l,  affectionate  to  its  young,  e'/awSto's,  '^Troif/.  Also  in 
Deut.  xiv.  18;  Ps.  civ.  17;  Jer.  viii.  7;  Zech.  v.  9.  Heron,  n23St, 
irascible.  The  xap^Spios  of  the  Sept.  is  supposed  to  be  the  plover, 
lapwing,  or  curlew.  Also  in  Deut.  xiv.  18.  Hoopoe,  rt'zn ,  has  been 
analyzed  into  5<£i5  W  or  Tyi'^ ,  cock,  or  master  of  the  rock,  'i-n-oxp.  Also 
in  Deut.  xi.  18.  Bat,  "|::?>,  said  to  be  compounded  of  tii!_  Vq-J,  dark- 
Jtying,  ruKxepts.     Also  in  Deut.  xiv.  18  and  Isa.  ii.  20. 

22.  Locust,  n2"ij< ,  multiplier,  gryllus  gregarius,  browser  (n  jX  F.). 
'Bpovxo'i  is  said  to  be  a  locust  without  wings.  The  present  word  occurs 
about  twenty-four  times  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  Gulper,  Dr^O. 
Attcckt^s  is  said  to  be  a  small  kind  of  grasshopper  without  wings. 
Only  here.  Hopper,  ^ann ,  leaper,  6<^io/Aaxi7s.  Only  here.  Cricket, 
S5n,  cutter  (F.),  coverer  (Ges.),  leaper.     It  occurs  five  times. 

29.  JFmse/, 'iVn ,  gliding,  digging,  yoA^.  Only  here.  Mouse,  ^^'z^y 
nimble,  /avs.  It  occurs  five  times  elsewhere,  1  Sam.  vi.;  Isa,  Ixvi.  17. 
Lizard,  13^ ,  slow,  K/joKoSetXo?  '^(e.pa-aio'i,  the  land-lizard.  The  dabb  is 
eighteen  inches  long,  and  is  frequent  in  the  desert, 

30.  Gecko,  rr?  3N ,  groaning,  fivydXr],  shrew-mouse.  Only  here  in 
this  sense.  Skink,  Ks,  strength,  )(apaL\ewv.  Only  here  in  this  sense, 
JVewt,  ns::^ ,  hiding,  ao-KaXa/Swrr]?,  lo all-climber.  Only  here.  Stellion, 
t)-dn ,  bowing  down,  aavpa.  Chameleon,  naojpi ,  breathing.  'Ao-TraAa^ 
of  the  Sept.  means  a  mole.     Some  pronounce  it  a  salamander. 


Xn.    PURIFICATION  OF  WOMEN. 

This  chapter  contains  a  regulation  concerning  mothers.  It  is 
addressed  to  Moses,  by  him  to  be  communicated  to  the  sons  of  Israel. 
It  may  therefore  have  been  revealed  before  the  erection  of  the  taber- 
nacle or  the  consecration  of  the  priests.  It  is  now  arranged  in  its 
proper  place  under  the  head  of  purification.     The  chapter  contains 


LEVITICUS  XII.   1-3.  157 

XII.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  Speak 
unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  saying,  when  a  woman  conccivcth  and 
beareth  a  male,  then  she  shall  be  unclean  seven  days,  as  in 
the  days  of  the  separation  of  her  infirmity  shall  she  be  unclean. 
3.  And  in  the  eighth  day  the  flesh  of  his  foreskin  shall  be  cir- 

two  parts :  the  first  determining  the  time  of  seclusion  on  account  of 
child-birth  1-5;  the  second  prescribing  the  sacrifices  to  be  offered 
when  purification  is  completed  6-8. 

1-5.  The  period  of  seclusion  after  child-bearing.  2.  When  a 
woman  conceiveth,^  is  fruitful,  yields  seed.  Beareth  a  male.  This 
defines  the  sex  of  her  seed.  She  shall  he  unclean  seven  days.  Impurity 
is  here  connected  with  child-bearing.  There  can  be  no  ground  for 
this  but  the  fall  of  man,  in  consequence  of  which  the  child  is  born  in 
sin.  The  seven  days  are  here  a  complete  period.  As  in  the  days  of 
the  separation  of  her  infirmity.  Her  infirmity  is  her  monthly  sickness. 
The  separation  is  the  state  of  seclusion  in  which  she  is  kept  in  con- 
sequence of  her  uncleanness.  This  uncleanness  also  lasts  seven  days, 
as  we  learn  from  Lev.  xv.  19.  This  is  only  another  instance  of  the 
moral  defilement  connected  with  descent  from  fallen  parents.  3.  And 
in  the  eighth  day.  The  infant  is  reckoned  with  the  mother  until  the 
eighth  day.  As  the  mother  and  the  father  are  members  of  the  com- 
munity of  Israel,  the  child  is  in  this  respect  also  counted  with  them. 
On  these  grounds  he  receives  the  sign  of  circumcision.  The  origin 
and  meaning  of  this  rite  we  have  in  Gen.  xvii.  It  is  the  symbol  of 
moral  renewal.  It  therefore  implies  the  existence  of  depravity.  But 
the  mother  in  Israel  having  passed  through  her  ceremonial  defilement 
is  now  clean,  and  her  child  is  clean  with  her.  As  the  descendant  of 
fallen  man,  he  has  the  inheritance  of  original  sin  and  must  lie  under 
the  condemnation  of  the  race.  As  the  descendant  of  a  circumcised 
father  he  has  the  inheritance  of  circumcision,  the  outward  token  of  the 
covenant  of  grace.  This  involves  the  principle  that  in  the  right  order 
of  things  the  offspring  of  pious  parents  will  be  pious.  It  cannot  mean 
that  circumcision  is  itself  regeneration.  This  would  be  to  make  a 
rite  a  charm,  instead  of  a  symbol  of  precious  truth.  As  the  mother, 
so  the  child  becomes  ceremonially  clean,  after  the  seven  days  have 


158  PUEIFICATION  OF  WOIMEN. 

cumcised.  4.  And  thirty  and  three  days  shall  she  sit  in  her 
blood  of  purifying ;  she  shall  not  touch  any  holy  thing,  nor 
come  into  the  sanctuary,  until  the  days  of  her  purifying  be 
fulfilled.  5.  And  if  she  bear  a  female,  then  she  shall  be  un- 
clean two  weeks  as  in  her  separation ;  and  sixty  and  six  days 
shall  she  sit  in  her  blood  of  purifying. 

elapsed ;  and,  therefore,  on  the  eighth  day  the  rite  of  circumcision  is 
performed.  4.  Thirty  and  three  days.  These,  with  the  previous 
seven,  make  the  period  of  forty  days,  which  is  one  of  the  perfect 
numbers  in  Scripture,  and  indicates  a  thorough  purification.  Shall 
she  sit,  abide  in  her  house,  being  indeed  clean  and  associating  with 
her  family,  but  not  taking  part  in  any  public  duties  of  religion. 
In  her  hlood  of  purifying.  This  is  the  discharge  of  blood  by  which 
nature  is  relieved,  the  system  purified,  and  the  health  restored.  Hence 
it  is  called  the  blood  of  purifying.  "While  it  flows  she  is  regarded  as 
in  some  respect  unclean,  and  after  it  ceases  she  is  clean.  The  seven 
days  and  the  thirty-three  days  have  some  relation  to  the  lochia  rubra, 
which  may  continue  about  a  week,  and  the  lochia  alba  which  may 
continue  a  considerable  time  after.  But  the  numbers  mainly  refer  to 
the  formal  and  typical  character  of  this  uncleanness,  which  points  to 
the  moral  depravity  connected  with  and  conveyed  by  birth  in  a  fallen 
race.  Not  touch  any  holy  thing.  This  indicates  the  typical  nature 
of  this  uncleanness  ;  since  only  moral  defilement  can  occasion  real 
impurity  or  exclude  from  the  communion  of  God.  Nor  come  into  the 
sanctuary.  This  shows  that  females  were  admitted  into  the  sanctuary 
as  worshippers  on  the  same  footing  with  males.  5.  If  she  bear  a 
female.  This  case  is  treated  distinctly  from  the  former.  The  period 
of  uncleanness  is  double,  and  so  is  that  of  seclusion.  Though  the 
ancients,  as  we  learn  from  Aristotle  (Hist.  an.  6,  22 ;  7.  3)  and  Hippo- 
crates were  of  opinion  that  the  flux  continued  longer  after  the  birth 
of  a  girl  than  of  a  boy,  yet  the  diflTerence  of  time,  if  any,  must  be  quite 
inconsiderable,  and  cannot  account  for  these  double  numbers.  The 
only  ground  that  can  be  assigned  for  this  difference  is  the  historical 
fact  of  the  woman  being  first  in  the  transgression.  This  difference 
between  male  and  female,  as  well  as  some  others,  is  done  away  in  the 


LEVITICUS  XII.  5,  6.  159 

6.  And  when  the  days  of  her  purifying  are  fulfilled  for  a 
son  or  for  a  daughter,  she  shall  bring  a  lamb  of  the  first  year 
for  a  burnt-sacrifice  and  a  pigeon  or  a  dove  for  a  sin-sacrifice 


Messiah,  who  is  born  of  a  virgin.  In  all  births,  however,  purity  and 
communion  are  recovered  at  the  end  of  a  short  period,  and  so  mercy 
mingles  faith  and  hope  with  the  remnant  of  corruption  in  all  those 
who  have  entered  into  willing  covenant  with  the  God  of  all  grace. 

6-8.  The  sacrifices  after  purification.  There  is  nothing  said  here 
of  washing,  as  that  is  treated  of  in  chap.  xv.  W/ien  the  days  of  her 
purifying  are  fulfilled.  The  purification  is  quite  distinct  from  the 
propitiation.  It  is  accomplished  before  the  sacrifice  that  denotes  pro- 
pitiation is  presented.  For  a  son  or  for  a  daughter,  that  is,  on  account 
of  the  birth  of  either.  The  mother  is  unclean,  and  with  her  the 
helpless  child,  until  the  week  or  fortnight  is  completed.  Then  both 
are  clean,  and  on  the  eighth  day  the  son  is  circumcised.  After  the 
period  of  seclusion  has  elapsed  the  mother  comes  forth  to  present 
herself  and  child  before  the  Lord.  A  lamb.  This  is  the  burnt  sac- 
rifice. As  the  ceremonial  defilement  indicates  sin  as  the  inheritance 
of  a  fallen  race,  the  burnt-sacrifice  represents  the  propitiation  for  sin 
which  avails  for  every  penitent,  confiding  child  of  God.  The  sin- 
sacrifice  speaks  of  expiation  for  any  inadvertent  sin  of  which  the 
mother  may  have  been  guilty.  Hence  these  sacrifices  express  on  the 
part  of  the  offerer  confession  of  sin,  appeal  for  mercy,  reliance  on  the 
Mediator,  and  thankfulness  for  the  goodness  of  God  to  the  mother 
and  the  child  in  temporal,  but  above  all  in  spii'itual,  things.  The 
message  of  mercy  and  mediation,  which  these  divinely  appointed 
sacrifices  convey,  transcends  all  mere  earthly  deliverance.  It  would 
be  an  occasion  of  insufierable  distress  to  a  mother  to  bring  forth  a 
child  with  the  tendency  and  under  the  doom  of  sin.  Hence  to  her 
there  is  a  new  and  unspeakably  precious  significance  and  blessing  in 
the  burnt-sacrifice  and  the  sin-sacrifice  that  tell  of  propitiation  and  of 
expiation,  not  only  for  herself  but  for  her  offspring.  She  enters  with 
all  the  earnestness  and  cheerfulness  of  hope  upon  the  task  of  training 
up  her  child  for  God,  believing  with  all  confidence  that  as  there  is 
an  atonement,  so  there  will  be  a  new  birth  by  which  her  child  will 


160  PURIFICATION  OF  WOMEN. 

unto  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting  to  the  priest ;  7.  And 
he  shall  offer  it  before  the  Lord  and  atone  for  her,  and  she 
shall  be  cleansed  from  the  fountain  of  her  blood.  This  is  the 
law  of  her  that  beareth  a  male  or  a  female.  8.  And  if  her 
hand  find  not  enough  for  a  lamb,  then  she  shall  take  two 

become  a  child  of  God  and  an  heir  of  life.  The  purification  now 
becomes  doubly  interesting  to  her,  as  the  earnest  as  well  as  the  emblem 
of  the  spiritual  purification  of  her  child,  when  faith  in  God  and  re- 
pentance towards  him  will  indicate  that  out  of  the  death  of  sin  has 
sprung  the  new  life  of  a  heart  cleansed  by  the  Spirit.  7.  And  atone 
for  her.  Being  a  mother,  she  has  a  new  life  given  to  her.  This  is 
of  a  sinful  nature.  But  there  is  a  propitiation  for  sin  and  a  great 
High  Priest.  She  humbly  accepts  the  glad  tidings  and  lays  hold  of 
the  Saviour.  Her  heart  that  was  bowed  down  under  the  burden 
of  sin  is  lifted  up  again.  And  shall  he  cleansed.  She  is  now  declared 
or  pronounced  clean.  The  process  of  purification  has  come  to  an  end, 
betokening  the  coming  of  the  sinner  with  the  whole  heart's  consent  to 
the  God  of  salvation.  The  act  of  propitiation,  represented  by  the 
sacrifice  offered,  is  now  made  available  for  the  acceptance  of  the 
believing  mother  and  her  child.  This  is  the  law,  the  instruction  or 
regulation  suitable  to  the  mother  who  has  brought  into  being  another 
individual  of  the  fallen  race  of  man.  8.  And  if  her  hand  find  not. 
Yet  merciful  consideration  for  the  poor  adds  as  an  appendix,  that  a 
dove  or  a  pigeon  may  be  substituted  for  the  lamb  as  a  burnt-sacrifice. 
This  met  the  case  of  Mary  the  mother  of  the  Messiah  himself 
(Luke  ii.  24). 

No  event  is  more  interesting  to  the  parent  or  to  the  race  than  the 
birth  of  a  child.  In  a  state  of  innocence  it  would  have  been  a  source 
of  unmingled  and  unutterable  gladness.  On  the  part  of  the  parents 
it  was  the  nearest  approach  possible  to  a  new  creation ;  and  in  regard 
to  the  race  it  was  another  unit  added  to  the  fellowship  of  holiness  and 
happiness.  And  tlie  whole  outward  scene  of  diversified  activity  and 
enjoyment  was  made  for  man,  not  man  for  the  outwai'd  scene.  Hence 
the  birth  of  man  transcends  in  importance  the  whole  growth  and 
development  of  animate  and  inanimate  nature.     But  above  all,  man  is 


LEA^TICUS  XII.  XQ;l 

doves  or  two  pigeons,  one  for  a  burnt-sacrifice  and  one  for  a 
sin-sacrifice ;  and  the  priest  shall  atone  for  her  and  she  shall 
be  clean.  51 

made  after  the  image  and  in  the  likeness  and  for  the  fellowship  of 
his  Maker,  and  on  this  ground  he  has  dominion  over  the  earth  and 
all  that  it  contains.  Another  child  of  such  a  race  is  another  source 
of  good  to  man  and  glory  to  God.  But  the  fall  casts  a  shade  of  im- 
penetrable darkness  over  the  birth  of  a  child  of  man.  All  that  reason 
can  say  is,  that  this  is  another  child  of  sin  and  heir  of  death.  The 
thoughtful  husband  and  wife  may  well  hesitate  to  become  the  parents 
of  an  offspring  having  such  a  bent  and  such  a  doom.  This  single 
consideration  justifies  the  insertion  of  this  short  and  reassuring  chapter 
in  the  book  of  propitiation.  The  mother  in  Israel  is  here  taught  that 
while  there  is  impurity  and  guilt  connected  with  the  bearer  and  the 
born  of  the  fallen  race,  yet  there  is  a  propitiation  on  which  she  may 
rely  for  herself  and  for  her  offspring,  and  a  purification  wliich  she  has 
for  herself  and  may  ask  and  confidently  expect  for  her  child,  while 
she  trains  him  up  in  the  way  he  should  go.  This  lifts  the  believing 
parents  out  of  the  gulf  of  despair,  and  encourages  them  to  enter  upon 
the  hopeful  task  of  training  up  their  child  for  glory,  honor,  and  immor- 
tality. As  the  mother  and  her  child  emerge  out  of  the  impurity,  she 
learns  to  hope  for  the  day  when  both  will  emerge  out  of  the  bondage 
and  corruption  of  sin ;  as  the  child  is  circumcised  on  the  eighth  day 
the  confiding  parents  i^ray  and  wait  and  watch  and  work  for  the  cir- 
cumcision of  the  heart,  which  is  hopefully  foreshadowed  by  the  out- 
ward rite:  as  the  mother  offers  her  burnt-sacrifice  and  sin-sacrifice 
she  rejoices  in  the  knowledge  that  there  is  a  propitiation  that  is  suffi- 
cient for  her  and  for  her  children  and  for  her  children's  children  to 
all  generations.  This  chapter  could  not  be  wanting  in  the  book  of 
atonement ;  and  assuredly  it  has  not  been  written  in  vain. 


2.  §*'^W,  yieldeth  seed,  as  in  Gen.  i,  11. 
21 


162  THE  LEPKOSY  DISCERNED. 


Xm.    THE  LEPROSY  DISCERNED. 

This  is  the  third  communication  in  this  section.  It  is  made  to 
Moses  and  Aaron  in  common,  and  was  therefore,  no  doubt,  given  after 
the  consecration  of  the  priests.  It  concerns  the  priests,  whose  duty- 
it  was  to  examine  and  pronounce  upon  cases  of  leprosy.  Two  kinds 
of  leprosy  are  described  in  this  chapter ;  that  of  the  human  body 
(1-46),  and  that  of  a  garment  (47-59).  A  third  kind  is  brought 
forward  in  the  next  chapter  (33-48),  that  of  a  house.  This  is  a  nota- 
ble instance  of  the  wider  and  more  popular  meaning  of  many  Hebrew 
terms  than  that  of  any  representatives  they  have  in  our  modern 
tongues-  "With  us  the  leprosy  is  a  disease  peculiar  to  man,  and 
having  nothing  corresponding  to  it  in  any  other  department  of  nature. 
But  the  Hebrew  word  which  we  render  leprosy  designates  also  accord- 
ing to  native  usage  an  unhealthy  state  of  a  garment  or  of  the  surface 
of  a  wall.  The  leprosy  seems  to  be  a  native  of  Egypt,  but  is  found  in 
Syria,  Palestine,  and  Arabia,  and  rarely  in  other  countries.  It  was  re- 
ported by  Manetho,  and  repeated  by  Strabo,  Tacitus,  Justin,  and  other 
ancient  writers,  that  the  Israelites  brought  this  disease  into  Egypt. 
But  the  fact  is  precisely  the  reverse.  Israel  came  into  Egypt  as  a 
family  consisting  of  seventy  souls,  and  when  they  left  it,  two  hundred 
and  ten  years  after,  some  of  them  were  probably  infected  with  it,  and 
carried  it  with  them  out  of  that  country.  It  is  not  a  merely  cutaneous 
disease.  It  penetrates  the  whole  system,  and  often  lurks  a  long  time 
unseen  before  it  comes  to  the  surface.  It  is  a  disease  of  the  most  viru- 
lent kind,  and  nearly,  if  not  altogether  incurable.  It  is  moreover  infec- 
tious in  the  highest  degree.  It  appears  in  several  forms,  as  the  black 
leprosy,  the  white  leprosy,  and  the  non-contagious  leprosy.  "The 
black  had  dark  brown  spots.  The  white  is  characterized  by  blanched 
skin,  white  hair,  the  drying  up  of  the  juices  of  the  body,  and  the  decay 
of  one  member  after  another"  (Duns,  Bib.  Nat.  Sci.  p.  98).  This  is 
the  kind  of  leprosy  to  which  reference  is  here  made.  It  is  still  preva- 
lent in  the  East.  Descriptions  of  it  may  be  found  in  Robinson  and 
other  travellers  in  the  East.     Four  cases  are  here  described. 

1-8.  First  case.  2.  In  the  shin  of  Ms  flesh.  The  disease  is  only 
noticed  when  it  comes  to  the  surface  or  becomes  cutaneous.  A  rising,^ 


LEVITICUS  XIII.  2-4.  163 

XIII.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and  Aaron,  saying, 
2.  When  a  man  hath  in  the  skin  of  his  flesh  a  rising,  scab,  or 
blotch,  and  it  is  in  the  skin  of  his  flesh  a  plague  of  leprosy, 
then  he  shall  be  brought  unto  Aaron  the  priest,  or  unto  one 
of  his  sons  the  priests ;  3.  And  the  priest  shall  look  on  the 
plague  in  the  skin  of  the  flesh,  and  the  hair  in  the  plague  is 
turned  white,  and  the  look  of  the  plague  is  deeper  than  the 
skin  of  his  flesh,  it  is  a  plague  of  leprosy ;  and  the  priest  shall 
look  on  him  and  pronounce  him  unclean.  4.  And  if  the 
Ijlotch  be  white  in  the  skin  of  liis  flesh,  and  its  look  not  deeper 
than  the  skin,  and  its  hair  not  turned  white,  then  the  priest 

a  raised  spot.  Scah,^  scurf  or  tetter  breaking  out.  Blotch,^  a  bleached 
or  whitish  spot.  A  plague.  This  is  to  be  taken  as  a  stroke,  attack, 
or  touch  of  the  disease.  In  this  sense  we  have  no  term  more  suitable. 
Leprosy.^  This  is  usually  explained  as  a  stroke  or  scourge ;  but  it 
probably  means  a  breaking  out  or  rough  swelling.  This  tallies  with 
the  Greek  term  adopted  into  our  language,  the  scaly  disease.  Unto 
Aaron,  or  unto  one  of  his  sons.  The  ordinary  priest  was  thus  compe- 
tent to  make  the  diagnosis.  3.  The  two  obvious  signs  of  leprosy  are 
the  hair  turned  white  and  the  plague  being  deeper  than  the  skin. 
The  hair  is  usually  dark  in  the  East.  This  is  therefore  a  striking 
mark.  The  second  sign  means  either  that  the  surface  of  the  spot 
affected  is  lower  than  the  rest  of  the  skin,  or  that  the  disease  is  deeper 
than  the  skin.  Observers  inform  us  that  the  patch  of  skin  diseased  is 
raised  above  the  rest,  though  hollow  in  the  middle,  while  the  border 
around  is  reddish  or  inflamed.  The  second  meaning  therefore  seems 
the  more  probable.  Pronounce  him  unclean.^  When  these  decisive 
marks  appear  the  priest  is  to  pronounce  him  unclean.  The  declara- 
tion does  not  make  him  unclean :  the  existing  uncleanness  gives  occa- 
sion for  the  declaration.  4-6.  The  blotch.  The  peculiarity  of  the 
blotch  is  its  white  or  bright  color.  This  excites  attention.  But  if  on 
examination  the  characteristic  symptoms  of  the  hair  turned  white 
and  the  appearance  deeper  than  the  skin  are  absent,  the  priest  is 
directed  to  shut  him  up  for  seven  days.     Shut  up  the  plague.     Some 


104  THE  LEPEOSY  DISCERNED. 

shall  shut  up  the  plague  seven  days.  5.  And  the  priest  shall 
look  upon  it  the  seventh  day,  and  behold  the  plague  is  at  a 
stay  in  his  sight  and  spreadeth  not  in  the  skin,  then  the  priest 
shall  shut  him  up  seven  days  again.  6.  And  the  priest  shall 
look  on  it  the  seventh  day  again,  and  behold  the  plague  fadeth 
and  spreadeth  not  in  the  skin,  then  the  priest  shall  pronounce 
him  clean ;  it  is  a  scab,  and  he  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  be 
clean.  7.  But  if  the  scab  do  spread  in  the  skin,  after  he  hath 
been  seen  by  the  priest  for  his  cleansing,  then  he  shall  be  seen 
again  by  the  priest.  8.  And  the  priest  shall  see,  and  behold 
the  scab  hath  spread  in  the  skin ;  then  the  priest  shall  pro- 
nounce him  unclean  ;  it  is  leprosy.  ^ 

have  suggested  that  to  shut  up  the  plague  is  merely  to  bind  it  up,  as  in 
Gen.  ii.  21.  But  the  passage  referred  to  is  not  a  case  of  binding  with  a 
bandage,  but  of  closing  up  an  opening.  And  in  vs.  26  the  pronoun 
"  him  "  refers  not  to  the  blotch,  which  in  the  original  is  feminine,  but  to 
the  person  aiFected  with  it.  Hence  to  shut  up  the  plague  simply  means 
to  shut  up  him  who  has  the  plague.  5.  If  on  re-examination  the  plague 
has  not  spread,  but  is  at  a  stay,  the  priest  is  to  shut  him  up  other  seven 
days.  The  period  of  seven  days  is  nearly  that  in  which  the  process 
of  nature  completes  itself.  A  second  seven  days  will  usually  afford 
time  for  signs  of  improvement  to  appear,  if  the  process  of  healing 
have  commenced.  6.  If  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight  the  affection  is 
manifestly  giving  way,  and  not  spreading,  it  is  but  a  scab"  or  scurf, 
and  the  captive  is  pronounced  clean,  and  released.  He  is  to  wash  his 
clothes,  and  be  clean.  7,  8.  But  if  after  he  has  been  inspected  in 
order  to  be  pronounced  clean,  the  scab  begin  to  spread,  he  is  to  be 
inspected  again.  The  presumption  is  the  charitable  one,  that  the 
patient  is  free  from  the  contaminating  malady.  He  is  therefore 
inspected  in  order,  if  possible,  to  be  pronounced  clean.  If,  how- 
ever, even  after  he  has  past  the  priest's  inspection,  symptoms  of  an 
unfavorable  kind  appear,  he  is  to  be  inspected  again.  If  the  signs 
of  the  disease  are  palpable  he  is  to  be  pronounced  unclean  and 
leprous. 


LEVITICUS  Xni.  9-15.  165 

9.  When  a  plague  of  leprosy  is  in  a  man,  then  lie  shall  be 
brought  to  the  priest.  10.  And  the  priest  shall  look,  and 
behold  a  white  rising  in  the  skin,  and  it  hath  turned  .the  hair 
white,  and  quick  flesh  liveth  in  the  rising.  11.  It  is  an  old 
leprosy  in  the  skin  of  his  flesh,  and  the  priest  shall  pronounce 
him  unclean  ;  he  shall  not  shut  him  up,  because  he  is  unclean. 

12.  But  if  the  leprosy  do  burst  forth  in  the  skin,  and  cover 
the  whole  skin  of  the  plague  from  his  head  to  his  feet,  in  all 
the  sight  of  the  priest's  eyes,  13.  Then  the  priest  shall  look, 
and  behold  the  leprosy  hath  covered  all  his  flesh,  and  he  shall 
pronounce  the  plague  clean :  he  is  turned  all  white ;  he  is 
clean.  14.  But  when  quick  flesh  appeareth  in  him,  he  shall 
be  unclean.  15.  And  the  priest  shall  sec  the  quick  flesh  and 
pronounce   him   unclean ;    the  quick  flesh  is  unclean ;    it  is 

9-17.  The  second  case.  The  reappearance  of  an  old  leprosy. 
9.  When  a  plague  of  leprosy  is  in  a  man.  This  assumes  the  existence 
of  the  disease.  He  is  to  be  brought  to  the  priest,  as  usual,  for  iuspec- 
tion.  10.  A  white  rising.  This  is  accompanied  with  two  other  marks. 
The  hair  white.  This  indicates  the  depth  of  the  disease.  Quich  Jlesh 
liveth  in  the  rising.  This  is  literally  a  quickening  of  the  flesh  which 
liveth  in  the  rising.  It  denotes  flesh  that  i^ushes  forth  without  any 
skin  over  it.  11.  This  is  a  bad  symptom.  It  indicates  an  old  leprosy, 
a  sleeping,  latent,  lingering  form  of  the  malady  breaking  forth  with 
fresh  violence.  The  patient  does  not  require  to  be  remanded  for 
future  examination.  He  is  unclean.  12.  Do  hurst  forth,  as  a  bud  or 
blossom  from  the  stem.  And  cover  the  whole  shin  of  the  plague,  from 
head  to  foot,  so  that  no  quick  flesh  can  be  discovered  by  the  closest 
inspection  of  the  priest.  The  skin  of  the  plague  means  the  skin  that 
has  the  plague,  and  the  skin  implies  the  man  that  has  the  plague. 

13.  In  this  alternative  the  scurf  of  disease  has  covered  the  whole  body 
and  is  ready  to  dry  up  and  fall  off,  leaving  a  whole  skin  behind.  The 
man  is  really  healed.  He  is  to  be  pronounced  clean.  He  is  turned  all 
white,  and  is  clean.  14,  15.  Cut  if  any  quick  flesh  appear  he  is  still 
under  the  influence  of  the  disease.     The  quick  flesh  is  a  decisive 


166  THE  LEPROSY  DISCERNED. 

leprosy.  16.  Or  if  the  quick  flesh  return  and  change  into 
white,  then  he  shall  come  to  the  priest ;  17.  And  the  priest 
shall  see  him,  and  behold  the  plague  is  turned  white  ;  and  the 
priest  shall  pronounce  the  plague  clean  ;  he  is  clean.        ^ 

18.  And  when  there  is  in  the  skin  of  the  flesh  a  boil,  and  it 
is  healed,  19.  And  there  is  in  the  place  of  the  boil  a  white 
rising  or  a  reddish-white  blotch ;  and  it  is  sliown  to  the  priest; 
20.  And  the  priest  shall  see,  and  behold  its  look  is  lower  than 
the  skin  and  its  hair  is  turned  white,  and  the  priest  shall  pro- 
nounce him  unclean  ;  it  is  a  plague  of  leprosy ;  it  hath  burst 
forth  in  the  boil.  21.  But  if  the  priest  see  it,  and  behold  the 
hair  in  it  is  not  white,  and  it  is  not  lower  than  the  skin,  and  it 
fadeth  away,  then  the  priest  shall  shut  him  up  seven  days. 
22.  And  if  it  do  spread  in  the  skin,  then  the  priest  shall  pro- 
nounce him  unclean  ;  it  is  a  plague.     23.  But  if  the  blotch 

symptom,  and  he  must  be  pronounced  unclean.  16,  17.  If,  however, 
the  quick  flesh  turn  from  red  to  white,  and  thus  become  a  dry  scab  or 
scale,  as  before,  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  clean. 

18-23.  The  third  case.  The  scar  of  a  boil.  18.  In  the  shin  of  the 
jiesh  a  boil}^  A  boil  or  blotch  such  as  was  inflicted  on  the  Egyptians 
in  the  sixth  plague  (Ex.  ix.  9).  And  it  is  healed.  The  process  of 
healing  has  begun.  19.  In  the  place  of  the  boil,  which  is  still  tender 
and  susceptible  of  canker.  A  reddish-white  blotch.  A  white  rising 
has  been  already  noticed.  The  blotch  is  called  reddish-white  because 
the  redness  of  inflammation  appears  on  the  margin  of  the  white.  20. 
The  symptoms  of  disease  are  the  same  as  before :  it  looks  deeper 
than  the  skin  and  the  hair  is  turned  white.  It  hath  burst  forth  in  the 
boil.  It  effloresces  from  the  seat  of  the  boil.  The  part  that  is  already 
weakened  by  disease  is  more  exposed  to  the  attack  of  the  contagious 
virus.  21.  If  the  symptoms,  however,  do  not  make  their  appearance, 
and  the  irritation  is  fading  away,  the  patient  is  to  be  secluded  seven 
days  for  after  examination.  22.  If  on  further  examination  it  is  found 
to  be  spreading,  it  is  a  leprous  attack.  23.  But  if  not,  it  is  the  scar'-^ 
of  the  boil.     He  is  to  be  pronounced  clean. 


LEVITICUS  Xm.  24-29.  1(37 

stay  in  its  place  and  spread  not,  it  is  the  scar  of  the  boil ; 
and  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  clean.  § 

24.  Or  when  there  is  in  the  skin  of  his  flesh  a  burn  from  fire, 
and  the  healing  of  the  burn  hath  become  a  blotch,  reddish- 
white  or  white ;  25.  And  the  priest  shall  see  it,  and  behold 
the  hair  is  turned  white  in  the  blotch,  and  its  look  is  deeper 
than  the  skin ;  it  is  leprosy,  it  hath  burst  forth  in  the  burn  : 
the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  unclean;  it  is  a  plague  of 
leprosy.  26.  But  if  the  priest  see  it,  and  behold  the  hair  is 
not  white  in  the  blotch,  and  it  is  not  lower  than  the  skin,  and 
it  fades  away,  then  the  priest  shall  shut  him  up  seven  days. 
27.  And  the  priest  shall  see  him  the  seventh  day  ;  if  it  do 
spread  in  the  skin,  then  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  un- 
clean ;  it  is  a  plague  of  leprosy.  28.  But  if  the  blotch  stay 
in  its  place,  spread  not  in  the  skin,  and  fade  away,  it  is  the 
rising  of  a  burn ;  and  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  clean ; 
for  it  is  the  scar  of  a  burn.  *f[ 

29.  When  there  is  a  plague  in  a  man  or  a  woman,  in  the 

24-28.  The  fourth  case.  The  scar  of  a  burn.  This  bears  a  con- 
siderable resemblance  to  the  preceding  case.  24.  A  burn^*from  jire^ 
a  wound  caused  by  fire.  The  healing  of  the  hum,  literally,  the  revival 
or  recovery  of  the  burn.  Reddish-white  or  white.  The  scar  of  the 
burn  has  become  white  with  or  without  the  redness  of  inflammation. 
25.  When  the  usual  signs  of  the  disease  are  present,  the  priest  has  no 
other  course  but  to  pronounce  him  unclean.  26.  If  not,  he  is  to  be 
remanded,  as  usual,  for  further  examination.  27.  If  on  the  seventh 
day  it  appears  to  have  spread  in  the  skin,  it  is  leprosy.  28.  But  if  it 
have  not  spread,  but  is  manifestly  fading,  it  is  merely  the  residue  of 
the  burn,  and  he  is  to  be  pronounced  clean. 

29-37.  The  head  or  chin.  These  parts  require  a  special  regulation, 
because  they  arfe  liable  to  other  failings  which  may  be  mistaken  for 
leprosy.  29.  In  a  man  or  a  woman.  This  shows  that  the  skin  and 
not  the  hair  is  intended  in  either  case,  inasmuch  as  the  chin  of  the 


1(58  THE  LEPROSY  DISCERNED. 

head  or  the  chin,  30.  And  the  priest  shall  see  the  plague, 
and  behold  its  look  is  deeper  than  the  skin,  and  in  it  is  yellow 
thin  hair,  then  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him  unclean ;  it  is 
a  scall,  it  is  a  leprosy  of  the  head  or  the  chin.  31.  And  when 
the  priest  seeth  the  plague  of  the  scall,  and  behold  its  look  is 
not  deeper  than  the  skin,  and  the  hair  is  not  yellow  in  it,  then 
the  priest  shall  shut  up  the  plague  of  the  scall  seven  days. 
32.  And  the  priest  shall  see  the  plague  on  the  seventh  day, 
and  behold  the  scall  hath  not  spread  and  there  is  no  yellow 
hair  in  it,  and  the  look  of  the  scall  is  not  deeper  than  the 
skin,  33.  Then  he  shall  be  shaven,  but  the  scall  shall  he  not 
shave  ;  and  the  priest  shall  shut  up  the  scall  seven  days  again. 
34.  And  the  priest  shall  see  the  scall  on  the  seventh  day,  and 
behold  the  scall  hath  not  spread  in  the  skin,  and  its  look  is  not 
deeper  than  the  skin  ;  then  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him 
clean,  and  he  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  be  clean.     35.  But  if 


female  is  not  usually  covered  with  hair.  30.  The  marks  in  this  case 
correspond  with  former  cases,  except  in  the  color  of  the  hair.  The 
yellowness  and  thinness  of  the  hair  is  a  new  speciahy.  The  yellow  is 
a  golden-red,  or  fox  color.  The  thinness  is  an  index  of  disease.  A 
scalp'*  or  scurf  is  the  special  name  of  this  form  of  disease.  A  leprosy 
This  form  of  disease  seems  distinct  from  the  specific  malady  to  which 
we  attach  the  name.  It  is  another  instance  of  the  generic  application 
of  the  Hebrew  original.  31.  If  the  symptoms  of  leprous  disease  be 
wanting,  the  person  affected  is  to  be  shut  up  for  seven  days.  Yellow.^^ 
The  word  usually  rendered  "  dark "  stands  here  in  the  original.  But 
the  Sept.  gives  what  must,  from  the  context,  be  the  correct  reading. 
Compare  the  thirty-second  and  thirty-seventh  verses.  32.  Hath  not 
spread.  This  is  always  an  important  criterion,  and  decisive  even  in 
the  absence  of  the  change  of  color  in  the  hair.  33.  The  head  is  then 
to  be  shaven,  with  the  exception  of  the  scall  itself.  34.  After  seven 
days  more,  if,  on  examination,  there  be  no  spreading  nor  deepening, 
then  the  patient  shall  wash  his  clothjes  and  be  clean.     35.  After  his 


LEVITICUS  XIII.  35-40.  169 

the  scall  do  spread  in  the  skin  after  his  cleansing,  36.  And  the 
priest  see  him  and  behold  the  scall  hath  spread  in  the  skin,  the 
priest  shall  not  seek  for  yellow  hair  :  he  is  unclean.  37.  But 
if  in  his  sight  the  scall  be  at  a  stay,  and  black  hair  groweth  in 
it,  the  scall  is  healed,  he  is  clean  ;  and  the  priest  shall  pro- 
nounce him  clean.  § 

38.  And  if  a  man  or  woman  have  in  the  skin  of  their  flesh 
blotches,  white  blotches.  39.  And  the  priest  see,  and  behold 
in  the  skin  of  their  flesh  are  blotches  fading  white  ;  it  is 
alphos,  it  hath  burst  out  in  the  skin  ;  he  is  clean.         § 

40.  And  when  a  man's  head  is  peeled,  he  is  hind-bald  ;  he 

cleansing.  The  priest's  sentence  is  merely  declarative.  It  has  no 
effect  on  the  physical  state  of  the  body.  Neither  is  it  final.  New 
symptons  demand  a  new  diagnosis.  36.  If,  even  after  his  purification, 
the  eruption  begins  to  spread,  no  other  symptoms  need  be  looked  for 
by  the  priest.  It  is  manifest  that  in  this  case  the  spreading  or  not 
spreading  is  the  sole  criterion.  37.  The  appearance  of  black  hair 
growing  in  a  scall  that  does  not  spread  is  a  sign  of  health ;  and  the 
patient  is  to  be  pronounced  clean. 

38,  39.  The  non-contagious  leprosy.  Blotches.  This  is  mentioned 
in  vs.  2  as  a  matter  for  examination.  White.  This  shows  that  there 
is  no  very  decided  indication  of  color  in  the  previous  word.  39. 
Fading.  A  dim  or  wan  white,  ready  to  vanish  away,  appears  to  be 
designated  by  this  term.  It  is  alphos.^^  This  is  a  convenient  word 
instead  of  the  phrase,  "  non-contagious  leprosy."  It  is  also  called  leuce 
from  its  white  color.  It  is  still  known  among  the  Arabs  by  a  name 
slightly  varied  from  the  Hebrew  hahah.  It  is  a  roughness  on  the 
skin  with  pale  spots,  causes  little  inconvenience,  and  disappears  usually 
in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two.  In  medical  science  it  is  called  lepra, 
a  scaliness,  though  quite  distinct  from  the  ordinary  leprosy  of  the 
East.     It  is  not  a  cause  of  uncleanness. 

40-46.  Leprosy  in  the  bald  head.  When  a  man^s  head  is  peeled, 
stript  of  the  hair  by  natural  decay,  ffind-bald.^^  This  is  used  in 
contradistinction  to  the  baldness  mentioned  in  the  next  verse.  Bald- 
22 


170  THE  LEPROSY  DISCERNED. 

is  clean.  41.  And  if  his  head  be  peeled  toward  his  face,  he 
is  fore-bald  ;  lie  is  clean.  42.  But  when  there  is  in  the  hind 
or  fore  baldness  a  reddish-white  plague,  it  is  leprosy  bursting 
forth  in  his  hind  or  fore  baldness.  43.  And  the  priest  shall 
see  him,  and  behold  the  rising  of  a  reddish-white  plague  in 
his  hind  or  fore  baldness,  like  the  look  of  leprosy  in  the  skin 
cf  tlie  flesh.  44.  He  is  a  leprous  man,  he  is  unclean  :  the 
priest  shall  surely  pronounce  him  unclean;  his  plague  is  in  his 
head.  45.  And  the  leper  in  whom  is  the  plague  sliall  have 
his  clothes  rent  and  his  head  bare,  and  shall  cover  his  beard, 
and  shall  cry,  Unclean,  unclean.     46.  All  the  days  that  the 

ness  does  not  defile.  41.  Peeled  toward  his  face,  from  the  border  or 
margin  of  the  face.  Fore-hald,  or  front-bald,  having  lost  the  hair 
of  the  forehead.  Neither  does  this  of  itself  cause  uncleanness.  42. 
A  reddish-white  plague.  This  has  been  described  before  in  vs.  19. 
A  plague  here  means  as  usual  a  spot  smitten.  43.  Like  the  hole  of 
leprosy,  resembling  some  of  the  forms  of  leprosy  in  other  parts  of  the 
body.  44.  On  examination  this  is  pronounced  to  be  leprosy.  The  turn- 
ing of  the  hair  white  is  not  noticed,  because  the  hair  is  gone.  45.  The 
leper  being  unclean  communicates  not  only  uncleanness,  but  a  highly 
infectious  and  incurable  disease.  He  is  therefore  bound  by  law  to 
make  his  state  known  by  signs  that  cannot  be  mistaken.  His  clothes 
rent.  This  was  usually  done  by  rending  the  outer  garment  from  the 
neck  to  the  girdle.  His  head  hare.  See  on  x.  6.  The  turban  was 
either  removed  or,  at  all  events,  the  hair  allowed  to  hang  in  loose 
disorder.  Cover  his  beard.  The  beard  was  considered  an  ornament 
to  a  man,  and  to  violate  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  insults.  To  cover 
the  beard  is  among  the  signs  of  mourning  (Ezek.  xxiv.  17).  These 
three  signs  do  not  distinguish  the  leper  from  the  ordinary  mourner. 
But  he  is  moreover  to  cry,  "  Unclean,  unclean,"  so  that  all  may  be 
warned  not  to  approach  him.  4G.  The  leper,  as  unclean,  is  to  be 
completely  isolated.  He  is  to  dwell  alone  outside  the  camp.  This 
arrangement  has  reference  to  the  desert  life.  A  settled  mode  of  life 
in  the  land  of  promise  required  a  change  in  this  regulation.     At  a  still 


LEVITICUS  Xm.  45-47.  171 

plague  on  him  shall  be  unclean,  he  is  unclean ;  he  shall  dvvell 
alone  ;  without  the  camp  shall  be  his  dwelling. 

47.  And  when  the  plague  of  leprosy  is  in  a  garment,  either 


later  period  lazarettos  were  erected  outside  the  cities  for  the  separate 
residence  of  lepers.  This  dreadful  disease  is  hereditary;  it  is  also 
communicated  by  contact,  and  even  by  dwelling  together ;  and  in  its 
proper  forms  is  incapable  of  cure.  After  lurking  in  the  system  it 
appears  at  length  in  the  skin,  goes  through  its  inevitable  process, 
causes  fingers  and  toes  and  other  limbs  to  fall  off,  while  the  mutilated 
part  heals  without  any  application,  and,  if  congenital,  terminates  life 
in  about  fifty  years.  If  acquired  by  infection  it  usually  causes  death 
in  about  twenty  years.  The  sufferer  may  not  endure  much  pain  ;  but 
he  is  a  wretched  and  loathsome  object.  And  the  parent  leaves  the 
child  an  equally  miserable  abject  from  society.  Even  on  sanitary 
grounds  these  regulations  of  Moses  were  excellent  and  indispensable. 
But  this  is  a  mere  collateral  result.  It  is  manifest  that  these  pro- 
visions are  in  no  sense  medical.  They  do  not  contemplate  the  cure, 
though  they  certainly  check  the  spread  of  this  fell  and  fatal  malady. 
They  do  not  in  any  way  interfere  with  medical  practice  or  science. 
They  are  at  bottom  purely  ceremonial  in  their  aim.  "While  subserving 
the  purpose  of  guarding  bodily  health  from  external  danger  in  a  wise 
and  efficient  manner,  they  are  directly  intended  to  determine  the  con- 
ditions of  ceremonial  purity,  and  to  sequester  the  clean  from  all 
contact  with  that  which  is  unclean.  This  is  the  main  ground  on 
which  the  subsequent  directions  in  this  chapter  rest. 

47-59.  This  second  part  of  the  present  chapter  relates  to  the 
leprosy  of  a  garment.  ^  47.  A  woollen  garment  or  a  linen  garment.  In 
this  verse  we  have  only  woollen  and  linen  garments  mentioned.  These 
were  the  materials  for  ordinary  wear,  the  one  from  the  animal,  the 
other  from  the  vegetable  world.  In  the  Old  World  wool  was  the  chief 
material  of  clothing  in  Palestine,  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Italy, 
and  Spain ;  hemp  in  the  northern  countries  of  Europe,  and  flax  in 
Egypt.  The  Israelites  having  come  out  of  Egypt  were  familiar  with 
flax.  Cotton  was  a  native  of  India,  and  silk  of  China.  Cotton,  if 
imported  into  Egypt  at  this  early  period,  was  a  rare  commodity.     As 


172  THE  LEPROSY  DISCERNED. 

in  a  woollen  garment  or  a  linen  garment ;  48.  Either  in  warp 
or  woof  of  linen  or  wool ;  or  in  skin  or  in  anything  made  of 
skin ;  49.  And  the  plague  is  greenish  or  reddish  in  the  gar- 
ment or  in  the  skin,  or  in  the  warp  or  in  the  woof,  or  in  any 
article  of  skin,  it  is  a  plague  of  leprosy ;  and  it  shall  be  shown 

a  vegetable  product  it  would  be  popularly  classed  under  linen.  Sack- 
cloth and  tent-cloth  were  made  of  the  hair  of  the  goat  and  the  camel. 
48.  Warp  or  woof.  This  may  refer  to  the  yarns  designed  for  the 
warping  reel  or  the  shuttle  before  or  after  the  process  of  weaving. 
In  the  latter  case  the  cause  of  the  decay  in  the  garment,  whether  it 
arise  from  defect  in  the  stuff  or  the  ravages  of  the  moth,  may  have 
had  its  seat  in  either  the  warp  or  the  woof  before  they  were  in- 
terwoven. Or  in  skin.  This  was  applied  to  the  purposes  of  dress, 
either  as  a  whole  or  as  the  material  of  some  work  of  art.  Sandals 
and  girdles  wei'e  among  the  parts  of  dress  made  of  leather.  49. 
Greenish  or  reddish.  The  sources  of  discoloration  or  decay  in  woven 
or  leather  fabrics  may  be  animal,  vegetable,  or  mineral,  of  which  the 
moth,  the  mildew,  and  the  rust,  may  be  regarded  as  the  famihar 
forms.  They  attack  animal  as  well  as  vegetable  products.  It  is  well 
known  how  much  injury  is  done  to  wheat,  fruit  trees,  and  other  plants, 
by  the  spores  of  various  parasitical  fungi  that  come  under  the  general 
head  of  mildew,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  attack 
the  manufactured  article  as  well  as  the  growing  plant.  "  Minute  fungi 
appear  as  spots  in  garments.  These  soon  spread  and  infect  the  in- 
tervening parts.  They  vary  in  color  from  white  to  yellow,  green, 
blue,  red,  and  black"  (Duns,  Bib.  Nat.  Hist.  107).  The  moth  is  no 
less  destructive.  Five  species  of  this  are  described  by  Linnaeus, 
called  Tinea  Vestionella,  T.  tapetzella,  T.  peUionella,  Laverna  sarci- 
tilla,  and  Galleria  mellonella,  engaged  respectively  in  preying  upon 
garments,  tapestry,  skins,  wool,  and  bees'  wax.  The  dermestidae  are 
so  called  from  devouring  skins.  Beetles  attack  wool,  fur,  and  old 
shoes.  Ironmould  is  a  familiar  example  of  a  stain  caused  by  a  chemi- 
cal process.  It  is  obvious  that  linen  is  not  only  bleached,  but  may  be 
dyed,  discolored,  deteriorated,  and  destroyed  by  the  chemical  action  of 
various  minerals.     Besides  all  this  there  are  natural  forms  of  decay 


LEVITICUS  Xm.  49-57.  I73 

to  the  priest.  50.  And  the  priest  shall  see  the  plague,  and 
shall  shut  up  the  plague  seven  days.  51.  And  he  shall  see  the 
plague  on  the  seventh  day;  that  the  plague  hath  spread  in 
the  garment  either  in  the  warp  or  in  the  woof,  or  in  the  skin, 
in  whatever  may  be  made  of  the  skin  for  use,  the  plague  is  a 
fretting  leprosy ;  it  is  unclean.  52.  And  he  shall  burn  the 
garment  or  the  warp  or  woof  in  wool  or  in  linen,  or  any  article 
of  skin  in  which  the  plague  may  be ;  because  it  is  a  fretting 
leprosy,  it  shall  be  burned  in  the  fire.  53.  And  if  the  priest 
look,  and  behold  the  plague  is  not  spread  in  the  garment, 
either  in  the  warp  or  in  the  woof,  or  in  any  article  of  skin  ; 
54.  Then  the  priest  shall  command,  and  they  shall  wash  that 
in  which  the  plague  is ;  and  he  shall  shut  it  up  seven  days 
again.  55.  And  the  priest  shall  look,  after  the  plague  hath 
been  washed,  and  behold  the  plague  hath  not  changed  its  look 
and  the  plague  is  not  spread,  it  is  unclean :  thou  shalt  burn 
it  in  the  fire  ;  it  is  a  fray  in  its  back  or  in  its  front.  56.  And 
if  the  priest  look,  and  behold  the  plague  has  faded,  after  being 
washed,  then  he  shall  tear  it  from  the  garment  or  from  the 
skin,  or  from  the  warp  or  from  the  woof.     57.  And  if  it  appear 

by  which  all  organic  matter  is  finally  decomposed  and  reduced  to  the 
elements  out  of  which  it  was  formed.  50,  51.  The  spreading  of  the 
plague  is  the  chief  sign  of  the  garment  leprosy.  A  fretting  ^^  leprosy, 
raw,  sore,  not  healing,  but  corroding,  and  hence  permanent  or  perse- 
vering, as  in  the  Sept.  and  the  Vulg.  This  is  the  effect  of  the  mildew 
or  the  moth.  52.  Such  a  piece  of  dress  is  to  be  burned.  53-55.  If  the 
plague  have  not  spread,  and  yet  after  being  washed  and  shut  up  seven 
days  have  not  changed  its  appearance,  it  is  unclean.  A  fray  ^^  in  its 
back  or  its  front.  A  pit  or  hollow  in  the  wrong  or  the  right  side, 
caused  by  the  eating  away  of  the  nap  or  thread.  This  causes  what 
is  here  called  by  an  obvious  figure,  hind  or  front  baldness,  that  is,  a 
fray  in  the  back  or  front.  56.  If  the  plague  appear  to  fade,  the  part 
affected  is  to  be  torn  off  and  burned.     57.  An  outbreak,^  a  reappear- 


174  THE  LEPROSY  DISCERNED. 

still  in  the  garment  or  in  the  warp  or  in  the  woof  or  in  any 
article  of  skin,  it  is  an  outbreak ;  in  the  fire  thou  shalt  burn 
that  wherein  the  plague  is.  58.  And  the  garment  or  warp  or 
woof  or  any  article  of  skin,  which  thou  shalt  wash,  and  the 
plague  depart  from  it,  then  it  shall  be  washed  again  and  be 
clean.     59.  This  is  the  law  of  the  plague  of  leprosy  in  a  gar- 

ance  of  the  disease.  Such  a  garment  is  to  be  burned.  58.  But  if  on 
washing  the  plague  disappear,  the  garment  is  to  be  washed  again  and 
be  clean. 

59.  This  is  the  recapitulation.  Tlds  is  the  law.  This  chapter  is 
complete  in  itself.  It  contains  the  diagnosis  of  the  leprosy  in  the 
human  subject,  and  in  that  which  is  very  near  to  him,  his  raiment, 
simply  in  reference  to  the  determination  of  cleanness  or  uncleanness. 
This  recapitulation,  indeed,  is  limited  to  the  latter  part  of  the  chapter 
which  refers  to  garments.  This  part  is  in  fact  finished,  as  we  have 
in  every  case  the  final  decision  concerning  the  garment.  "We  are 
directed  how  to  dispose  of  it,  and  that  ends  the  matter.  But  the 
previous  part  of  the  chapter  is  strictly  confined  to  the  question  of 
cleanness  and  uncleanness.  But  in  the  case  of  the  human  subject 
there  is  the  ulterior  question  regarding  the  mode  of  re-establishing 
proper  relations  between  the  convalescent  and  the  community  of  God. 
The  matter  is  therefore  not  entirely  settled  in  this  communication, 
but  is  taken  up  in  the  next  chapter.  The  effect  of  this  is  to  keep  the 
two  questions  of  purity  and  atonement  perfectly  distinct.  This  is  of 
the  first  importance  in  a  work  that  is  intended  to  be  both  instructive 
and  practical.  To  pronounce  it  clean  or  tmclean.  The  priest,  we 
perceive,  does  not  profess  to  purify  in  the  sense  of  removing  disease, 
and  thereby  impurity,  and  restoring  health,  and  thereby  purity.  He 
merely  pronounces  or  declares  him  or  it  clean  or  unclean.  His  dec- 
laration does  not  create  or  alter,  but  simply  attests  the  state  of  the 
object  in  question.  This  applies  equally  to  the  man  and  to  the  gar- 
ment. There  is,  however,  a  marked  difference  between  the  mode  in 
which  he  deals  with  the  garment  and  with  the  human  subject.  The 
leprous  garment  is  to  be  burned,  as  noxious  and  incurable.  The 
leprous  man  is  to  be  shut  out  of  the  camp.     Exclusion  from  the 


LEVITICUS  XIII.  59.  175 

ment  of  wool  or  linen,  or  in  the  warp  or  woof,  or  in  any  article 
of  skin  to  pronounce  it  clean  or  unclean,  28  ^  ^  ^ 

camp  is  a  formal  excommunication.  The  only  ground  of  excommuni- 
cation from  the  people  of  God  is  unholiness  manifesting  itself  in  un- 
belief and  impenitence.  Hence  we  gather  that  exclusion  from  the 
camp  is  a  symbol  of  alienation  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  or 
the  family  of  heaven,  on  account  of  sin.  And  it  is  not  difficult  to  see 
that  leprosy  is  a  most  striking  and  awful  emblem  of  sin.  It  is  conta- 
gious, it  is  unclean,  and  it  was  incurable  by  any  human  means  in  the 
time  of  Moses.  In  all  these  it  has  a  parallel  in  sin.  Sin  in  the  dis- 
position and  habitude  of  the  mind  is  eminently  contagious  ;  it  is  essen- 
tially a  moral  defilement  of  the  soul ;  and  it  is  incurable  by  any 
appliance  of  human  philosophy.  As  leprosy  is  a  most  loathsome 
disease  of  the  body,  so  is  sin  the  unseemly  canker  of  the  mind.  As 
all  proper  disease  is  the  consequence  of  sin,  so  this  malady  is  well 
chosen  as  a  type  of  the  whole  class  to  symboHze  the  moral  disease. 
In  this  chapter,  then,  we  are  making  progress  in  the  discrimination 
of  the  clean  and  the  unclean,  and  approaching  step  by  step  toward 
the  higher  discrimination  of  the  right  and  the  wrong,  the  holy  and  the 
unholy,  the  morally  good  and  evil. 

NOTES. 

2.  Rising,  T'><}2,  ovXr],  scar;  r.  take  up,  raise  up.  Scab,  rnSO, 
arjiJiaaia,  mark  ;  r.  stick,  spread,  pour.  Blotch,  rninn ,  rrjXavyq'i,  far- 
shining  ;  r.  he  bright.  Leprosy,  T'J'yi ,  Xiirpa ;  r.  strike,  sting,  waste, 
roughen. 

3.  Pronounce  unclean,  NHli ,  one  of  the  notable  meanings  of  the  piel 
or  intensive  form  of  the  verb. 

6.  Scab,  rnspri ,  a  variation  of  mnQD  ,  vs.  2. 

10.  Quick  jlesh,  "lira  n;;n^,  quickness,  or  a  quick  place  of  the  flesh  ; 
aiTo  Tov  vyiov'i  t^s  crapKos  t^s  ^ojotj?. 

18.  Boil,  "pn'j,  an  enflamed  sore,  eXxos;  r.  un.  be  hot. 

23.  Scar,  ra-^s ,  ovXr]. 

24.  Burn,  n^D-o ,  KaTaKavfxa.    From  the  same  root  as  "^3  (Isa.  iii.  24). 

30.  Scall,  pn? ,  Opavafxa,  breaking ;  r.  tear. 

31.  "ihd,  black.     But  Sept.  iavOi^ovaa. 


176  THE  LAW  OF  THE  LEPER. 

39.  Alphos,  pty^,  dX<^os,  vitiligo  alba;  a  kind  of  white  tetter. 

40.  Hind-bald,  r\^p_ ,  </>aXa/<pos ;  r.  shear,  cut,  make  bald. 

41.  Fore-bald,  nsa,  dva</)aAavTos  ;  r.  be  high. 

51.  Fretting,  n'iXT???,  e/xfiovo^,  perseverans  ;  r.  sting,  smart,  embitter. 
55.  Fray,  rrnQ,  a  pit  or  hollow;  ia-T-^pLKTai,  made  firm,  fixed;  v. 
dig,  deepen. 

57.    Outbreak,  riH'ns,  a  budding  forth;  XeVpa  i^avOovcroi. 


XIV.    THE   LAW   OF  THE  LEPER. 

This  chapter  contains  two  distinct  communications  from  the  Lord ; 
the  former  made  to  Moses  alone,  the  latter  to  Moses  and  Aaron 
conjointly.  The  former  refers  to  the  sacrificial  means  by  which  the 
leper  when  cleansed  is  to  be  restored  to  the  full  communion  of  the 
faithful  (1-32).  This,  of  course,  was  applicable  to  present  circum- 
stances in  the  wilderness.  The  latter  communication  refers  to  the 
case  of  a  house  affected  with  leprosy  (33-57).  This,  on  the  contrary, 
was  designed  for  a  future  state  of  things,  when  the  people  would  be 
settled  in  their  own  land.  Hence  we  see  the  propriety  of  its  forming 
a  distinct  communication.  It  is  obvious  that  Moses,  having  received 
these  three  distinct  instructions  concerning  leprosy,  has  arranged  them 
in  the  natural  order.  That  which  regulates  the  discerning  of  leprosy 
in  the  human  subject  and  in  a  garment  is  rightly  placed  first ;  that 
which  prescribes  the  mode  of  re-instating  the  healed  leper  in  the 
privileges  of  the  people  of  God  naturally  follows ;  and  that  which 
refers  to  a  future  condition  of  the  people  is  evidently  in  its  right  place 
at  the  close  of  the  other  two.  It  is  equally  manifest  that  Moses  was 
not  at  liberty  to  take  these  communications  asunder,  and  re-arrange 
them  according  to  his  own  fancy. 

1-20.  The  rite  to  be  observed  in  formally  pronouncing  the  leper 
to  be  clean.  2.  In  the  day  of  his  cleansing.  When  he  became  a 
leper  there  was  a  formal  process  by  which  he  was  uncleansed,  or 
judicially  pronounced  unclean.  So  when  he  is  healed  of  his  leprosy, 
there  is  a  solemn  rite  by  which  he  is  cleansed,  that  is,  pronounced  to 
be  clean.  No  such  formulary  or  ceremony  could  make  him  clean. 
It  could  only  legally  attest  his  cleanness.     Brought  unto  the  priest, 


LEVITICUS  XIV.  2-4.  177 

XIV.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  This 
shall  be  the  law  of  the  leper  in  the  day  of  his  cleansing  ;  and 
he  shall  be  brought  unto  the  priest.  3.  And  the  priest  shall 
go  forth  out  of  the  camp :  and  the  priest  shall  look,  and  behold 
the  plague  of  leprosy  is  healed  in  the  leper.  4.  And  the  priest 
shall  command  to  take  for  him  that  is  to  be  cleansed  two  lire 

Brought  to  a  place  in  the  outskirts  of  the  camp,  where  the  priest 
might  meet  him.  3.  The  priest  shall  go  forth  out  of  the  camp,  because 
the  leper  is  not  at  liberty  to  enter  the  camp,  until  he  is  declared  clean 
in  a  formal  manner.  The  Mediator  goes  from  heaven  to  earth  to 
meet  the  sinner  in  his  estrangement.  Is  healed.  The  function  of  the 
priest  is  altogether  distinct  from  that  of  the  physician.  The  latter 
applies  his  art  to  heal  the  diseased ;  the  former  simply  ascertains  that 
he  is  healed,  in  order  that  he  may  proceed  to  pronounce  him  clean, 
and  re-instate  him  in  the  fellowship  of  the  redeemed.  In  the  leper, 
literally,  from  the  leper,  that  is,  in  a  pregnant  sense  healed  and  re- 
moved from  him.  4.  The  priest  shall  command.  He  gives  the 
authoritative  order  to  take  the  steps  necessary  for  the  restoration  of 
the  excommunicated  one.  To  take,  or  fetch.  This  is  literally  ren- 
dered thus,  "  and  he  shall  take."  But  it  is  clear,  from  the  issuing  of 
the  command,  that  the  person  who  takes  is  different  from  the  priest. 
The  leper,  or  rather  his  friend  for  him,  takes  the  things  mentioned. 
Two  live,  clean  birds.*  The  special  meaning  of  the  word  bird  here 
is  sparrow.  But  the  general  signification,  any  small  bird,  including 
the  sparrow  of  course,  is  obviously  intended,  as  the  epithet  clean 
would  have  been  superfluous  in  the  case  of  the  sparrow.  The  field- 
bird  is  chosen,  because  the  scene  of  this  curious  transaction  lies  without 
the  camp,  in  the  field  of  the  world.  Live.  Some  understand  by  this, 
healthy  birds.  But  it  appears  simply  to  mean  living,  because  one  of 
them  is  to  be  slain,  and  the  other  is  to  be  sent  away  alive,  and  neither 
could  be  done,  if  the  birds  were  not  alive.  Clean.  This  limits  the 
kind  of  bird.  But  there  is  an  obvious  allusion  to  the  sort  of  victim 
which  is  proper  to  stand  for  one  who  had  been  unclean.  Ajid  cedar 
wood.  Chips  of  cedar  wood,  or  a  rod  of  this  wood,  according  to  tra- 
dition, a  cubit  long.  Some  have  suggested  the  juniper  as  the  cedar 
23 


178  THE  LAW  OF  THE  LEPER. 

birds  and  cedar  wood  and  crimson  wool  and  liyssop.     5.  And 
the  priest  shall  command  to  slay  the  one  bird  in  an  earthen 

of  this  passage,  because  the  cedar  grows  not  in  Arabia  Petraea,  but 
on  the  Lebanon.  But  the  wood  of  the  cedar,  however,  was  well- 
known  in  Egypt,  where  it  was  used  for  ornaments,  coffins,  doors,  and 
boxes.  There  is  also  the  cedar  of  Algeria  and  of  the  Himalayas,  as 
well  as  of  Lebanon.  This  is  the  first  time  the  tree  is  mentioned  in 
the  Pentateuch.  The  cedar  of  Lebanon  is  a  species  of  fir,  or,  as 
others  say,  of  pine,  at  all  events  of  the  coniferae,  and  was  the  most 
magnificent  tree  with  which  the  Israelite  was  familiar.  Hence  it  is 
contrasted  as  an  extreme  with  the  hyssop  (1  Kings  iv.  33),  and  with 
the  thistle  or  thorn  (1  Kings  xiv.  9).  Its  wood  is  fine,  solid,  free 
from  knots,  odoriferous,  antiseptic.  Chosen  for  its  resistance  to  decay, 
it  expresses  perpetuity,  the  perpetuity  of  the  covenant  of  peace. 
Crimson  loool.  The  original  means  a  material  dyed  with  the  kermes 
worm.  The  kermes  is  the  coccus,  formerly  supposed  to  be  a  berry, 
but  now  known  to  be,  as  the  scriptural  name  indicates,  an  insect  living 
on  the  ilex  or  holm-oak.  It  is  at  first  white,  then  green,  and  finally 
and  permanently  crimson.  Scarlet  was  the  name  of  the  color  in  the 
time  of  our  English  translators.  The  color  here  doubtless  belongs  to  a 
woollen  thread  or  cloth.  Red  is  the  fastest  color,  or  the  most  difficult 
to  be  disengaged  from  the  material  dyed  with  it.  It  is  the  color  of 
blood,  and  therefore  points  to  expiation.  Hyssop.  As  the  European 
hyssop  {hyssopus  officinalis)  does  not  belong  to  Asia,  this  is  generally 
supposed  to  be  organy  or  marjoram,  a  plant  of  the  order  labiatae,  or 
mint  tribe.  Sweet  marjoram  is  peculiarly  aromatic  and  fragrant,  and 
much  used  in  cookery.  Its  fragrance  fits  it  to  express  faith  in  a  pro- 
pitiation, or  in  the  acceptance  of  God.  The  conjecture  that  some 
stalks  of  this  hyssop  were  bound  to  the  rod  of  cedar  wood  by  the 
crimson  thread,  forming  the  brush  or  aspergillus  with  which  the 
sprinkling  was  performed,  is  plausible,  and  may  be  founded  on  vs.  51 ; 
though  this  is  not  here  asserted,  and  these  articles  in  themselves  sig- 
nify reliance  on  the  propitiation,  without  being  combined  for  the 
purpose  of  sprinkling,  as  we  learn  from  vs.  52,  where  they  are  classed 
with  the  live  birds,  and  are  symbols  of  faith  in  the  atonement,  and 
from  Num.  xix.  6,  where  they  are  cast  into  the  midst  of  the  burning 


LE\aTICUS  XIV.  5,  6.  179 

vessel  over  fresh  water.  6.  And  the  live  bird  he  shall  taxe, 
and  the  cedar  wood  and  the  crimson  wool  and  the  hyssop ; 
and  shall  dip  them  and  the  live  bird  in  the  blood  of  the 
bird  that  was  slain  over  the  fresh  water:     7.  And  lie  shall 

of  the  red  heifer.  These  three  emblems  of  incorruptibility,  expiation, 
and  renovation  combine  among  themselves  to  indicate  faith  in  an 
eternal  redemption  that  never  fails  to  make  way  for  pardon  and 
acceptance.  5.  The  priest  shall  command,  order  another  to  perform 
a  certain  part.  To  slay  the  one  bird.  Some  have  doubted  whether 
this  be  a  proper  sacrifice,  as  the  altar  is  absent,  and  therefore  no 
sprinkling  or  burning  on  it  takes  place.  But  this  is  a  narrow  view. 
An  altar  is  merely  a  convenient  instrument.  A  piece  of  earthenware 
or  wood  will  serve  the  same  purpose.  The  priest  is  here,  and  that  is 
all  that  is  essential.  Hence  in  vs.  53,  the  process  here  described  is 
said  to  atone  or  propitiate.  In  an  earthen  vessel  over  fresh  water. 
"Water  fresh  from  the  running  brook  or  overflowing  fountain  is  to  be 
received  in  an  earthen  vessel,  like  its  native  bed,  over  which  the  spar- 
row or  little  bird  is  to  be  slain,  that  its  blood  may  mingle  with  the 
crystal  stream.  Here  the  emblems  of  expiation  and  purification  are 
blended  together,  as  they  always  concur  in  the  experience  of  the  saved. 
See  John  xix.  34 ;  1  John  v.  6.  The  connection  would  be  the  same, 
even  if  the  vessel  receiving  the  blood  were  merely  held  over  the  fresh 
water  flowing  in  its  natural  channel.  6.  And  the  live  bird.  The  reason 
for  the  double  symbol  is  that  we  may  have  the  emblem  of  life,  as  well 
as  of  death.  The  Mediator  is  one  ;  but  he  must  not  only  die,  but  live 
again,  if  he  is  to  succeed  in  his  mediation.  He  must  not  only  bear 
death,  but  win  life  for  the  guilty.  Hence  the  two  birds.  And  dip 
them  in  the  blood.  The  symbolic  whole  is  one.  This  is  represented 
by  dipping  the  live  bird  in  the  water  mingled  with  the  blood  of  the 
slain  bird.  This  significantly  connects  the  two  birds,  and  shows  them 
to  be  symbolically  one.  The  Mediator  has  died,  and  yet  he  lives. 
The  blood  indicates  that  he  has  died.  The  fresh  water  intimates 
that  he  is  himself  holy,  and  has  the  principle  and  the  right  of  life  in 
himself.  He  is  gone  through  death  to  life.  This  involves  the  wonder 
of  a  resurrection,  as  we  shall  see.  The  cedar  wood,  crimson  wool, 
and  hyssop  are  also  dipped  in  the  water  and  blood.     They  are  sym- 


180  THE  LAW  OF  THE  LEPER. 

spatter  upon  him  that  is  to  be  cleansed  from  the  leprosy  seven 
times ;  and  he  shall  cleanse  him,  and  shall  send  the  live  bird 
into  the  open  field.     8.  And  he  that  is  to  be  cleansed  shall 

boUc  and  instrumental  —  symbolic  of  the  instrument  by  which  the 
eternal  redemption  is  applied  ;  instrumental,  when  actually  used  in 
its  application  by  sprinkling ;  symbolic  always,  whether  actually  used 
as  an  instrument  for  sprinkling,  or  thrown  upon  the  fire  by  which  the 
red  heifer  is  consumed ;  instrumental,  apparently,  in  the  present  case 
(Heb.  ix.  19).  The  instrument  which  they  represent  is  faith,  which 
in  the  Spirit's  hand  applies  the  benefits  of  the  redemption  to  the  soul. 
7.  And  he  shall  spatter.  This  method  of  application  is  used  instead 
of  sprinkling,  when  the  quantity  to  be  employed  is  small  ( See  on  iv. 
G).  The  priest  applies  the  blood  and  water  to  the  unclean;  the 
blood  which  expiates,  the  water  which  cleanses.  Both  are  necessary. 
Without  atonement  he  has  no  right  or  hope  of  cleansing ;  without 
cleansing  of  heart  he  is  not  inclined  to  accept  the  atonement.  Without 
the  good  tidings  of  pardon,  acceptance,  ransom,  propitiation,  and 
invitation  he  will  not  be  moved  to  repentance ;  without  the  principle 
of  new  life,  he  will  not  understand,  believe,  repent,  or  return  to  God. 
Seven  times.  The  number  of  perfection,  holiness,  and  communion. 
Cleanse  him,  formally,  declare  him  clean  by  a  symbolic  act,  in  wliich 
is  included  the  application  of  the  water,  the  symbol  of  purification. 
As  the  priest  uncleanses,  that  is,  pronounces  unclean,  the  leper,  so  he 
cleanses  or  pronounces  him  clean  when  healed  of  his  leprosy.  In 
both  cases,  his  word  or  act  constitutes  ceremonial,  but  not  actual, 
uncleanness  or  cleanness.  In  a  moral  sense  the  former  is  caused  by 
some  malign  influence  in  the  will  of  man ;  the  latter,  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  in  the  same  spiritual  sphere.  The  symbol  of  cleansing,  in  the 
foregoing  ceremony,  is  water.  The  symbol  of  atonement,  the  properly 
mediative  act,  is  the  blood.  Send  the  live  hird  into  the  open  field,  let 
him  loose  into  his  native  element  of  life,  of  happiness.  Tlie  Mediator, 
having  yielded  to  death,  rises  again  to  the  glory,  honor,  and  immor- 
tality wliich  are  the  reward  of  his  perfect  holiness.  As  this  sacrifice 
has  been  offered  by  the  leper,  he  avails  himself  of  the  good  offices  of 
the  mediator.  He  has,  therefore,  by  and  with  him  died  unto  sin,  and 
he  is  quickened  and  raised  up  together  with  him  to  a  new  enjoyment 


LEVITICUS  XIV.  7-11.  181 

wash  bis  clothes  and  shave  off  all  his  hair,  and  wash  in  water 
and  be  clean,  and  afterwards  come  into  the  camp :  and  he 
shall  tarry  outside  his  tent  seven  days.  9.  And  it  shall  be  on 
the  seventh  day,  he  shall  shave  all  his  hair  off  his  head  and 
his  chin  and  his  eyebrows,  and  all  his  hair  he  shall  shave  off; 
and  he  shall  wash  his  clothes,  and  wash  his  flesh  in  water  and 
be  clean.  10.  And  on  the  eighth  day  he  shall  take  two  perfect 
he-lambs  and  one  perfect  ewe  of  the  first  year,  and  three  tenth 
deals  of  flour  for  an  oblation,  mingled  with  oil,  and  one  log  of 
oil.     11.  And  the  priest  that  cleanseth  shall  present  the  man 

of  all  the  blessings  of  life.  By  this  highly  significant  process  the 
leper  who  has  recovered  is  prepared  for  re-admission  into  the  camp 
of  the  holy  nation.  8.  The  utmost  precaution  is  to  be  taken  to 
remove  any  remaining  trace  of  the  disease.  He  shall  wash  his  clothes, 
shave  off  all  his  hair,  wash  his  body  in  water,  and  be  clean.  He  is 
then  admissible  into  the  camp.  But  as  he  was  sprinkled  seven  times, 
so  seven  times  are  to  pass  over  him  before  he  is  permitted  to  enter 
into  his  home.  9.  On  the  seventh  day  a  similar  thorough  purification 
of  the  person  is  to  take  place. 

10-20.  On  the  eighth  day  a  special  sacrifice  is  prescribed.  10.  On 
the  eighth  day,  after  the  seven  days  have  been  completed.  As  the 
young  is  to  be  seven  days  with  the  dam  before  it  is  fit  to  be  offered, 
as  the  new-born  infant  is  seven  days  with  the  mother  and  then  cir- 
cumcised on  the  eighth,  as  the  high-priest  was  consecrated  for  seven 
days  and  on  the  eighth  entered  on  his  office,  so  the  leper  after  being 
seven  days  healed  is  on  the  eighth  day  restored  with  all  due  formality 
to  the  right  and  duty  and  fellowship  of  the  children  of  God.  Three 
tenth  deals.  The  tenth  deal  is  the  omer,  the  tenth  part  of  an  ephah 
(Ex.  xvi.  36).  The  ephah  contains  about  4  gal.  1  quart,  1.4  pints,  and 
the  omer,  therefore,  about  1  quart,  1.54  pints.  One  tenth  deal  is 
appointed  for  each  of  the  three  lambs  according  to  Num.  xv.  4. 
One  log  of  oil.  According  to  Rabbinical  authority  the  log  contained 
six  eggs,  or  about  half  a  pint.  It  was  the  twelfth  part  of  a  hin. 
11,  The  prie&t  that  cleanseth,  that  performs  the  ceremony  by  which  he 
is  declared  clean.     Present  the  man  to  he  cleansed.     Having  been  for- 


182  THE  LAW  OF  THE  LEPER. 

to  be  cleansed  and  those  things  before  the  Lord  at  the  door 
of  the  tent  of  meeting.  12.  And  the  priest  shall  take  the  one 
lamb  and  offer  it  for  a  trespass-offering,  and  the  log  of  oil,  and 
make  them  a  waving  before  the  Lord.  13.  And  he  shall  slay 
the  lamb  in  the  place  where  he  slayeth  the  sin-sacrifice  and 
the  burnt-sacrifice  in  the  holy  place ;  for  as  the  sin-sacrifice, 
so  the  trespass-offering  is  the  priest's;  it  is  most  holy;  14.  And 
the  priest  shall  take  of  the  blood  of  the  trespass-offering,  and 
the  priest  shall  put  it  on  the  tip  of  the  right  ear  of  him  that  is 
to  be  cleansed,  and  upon  the  thumb  of  his  right  hand  and  upon 

mally  admitted  into  the  camp  as  clean,  he  may  appear  before  the 
Lord  with  a  sacrifice.  12.  Offer  it  for  a  trespass-offering.  The 
trespass-offering  represents  amends  or  satisfaction  for  positive  duty 
unfulfilled,  a  righteousness  in  the  stead  of  the  righteousness  left 
undone,  giving  a  title  not  merely  to  release  from  death  but  to  resto- 
ration to  life.  Now  the  leper,  being  healed  of  an  incurable  disease, 
was  in  a  pre-eminent  sense  rescued  from  a  state  of  death  and  restored 
to  a  state  of  life.  But  life  is  the  reward  of  active  obedience,  and 
therefore  it  is  befitting  that  the  offering  that  represented  active  right- 
eousness should  in  his  case  take  the  front  place.  Besides  it  is  better 
fitted  to  shadow  forth  complete  restoration  to  the  privileges  of 
adoption  than  either  the  sin-sacrifice  or  the  burnt-sacrifice.  And  the 
log  of  oil.  The  oil  is  offered,  but  does  not  go  upon  the  altar,  as  it  has 
a  special  purpose  and  meaning  of  its  own.  This  comes  out  in  the 
sequel.  Make  them  a  waving.  Waving  denotes  the  communion  of 
saints,  which  was  a  peculiarly  appropriate  symbol,  when  the  recovered 
leper  was  to  be  restored  to  the  companionship  of  his  home.  A  wav- 
ing was  an  offering  of  which  not  more  than  a  part  was  laid  on  the 
altar,  and  the  whole  or  main  part  handed  over  to  the  priests.  13.  And 
he  shall  slay  the  lamb.  The  trespass-offering  is  to  be  slain  in  the 
usual  place,  and  dealt  with  in  the  usual  way.  14.  Put  it  on  the  tip. 
This  reminds  us  of  the  consecration  of  the  priests ;  and  the  analogy 
is  just.  The  leper  who  was  ceremonially  excommunicated  is  now 
restored  to  the  kingdom  of  priests,  as  well  as  the  holy  nation  (Ex. 
xix.  G).     Hence  the  two  rites  must  have  their  points  of  correspond- 


LEVITICUS  XIV.    14-18.  133 

the  great  toe  of  his  right  foot,  15.  And  the  priest  shall  take 
of  the  log  of  oil,  and  pour  it  on  the  left  palm  of  the  priest. 
16.  And  the  priest  shall  dip  his  right  finger  in  the  oil  that  is 
in  his  palm ;  and  shall  spatter  of  the  oil  with  his  finger  seven 
times  before  the  Lord.  17.  And  of  the  rest  of  the  oil  that  is 
on  his  palm  shall  the  priest  put  upon  the  tip  of  the  right  ear 
of  him  that  is  to  be  cleansed,  and  upon  the  thumb  of  his  right 
hand  and  upon  the  great  toe  of  his  right  foot,  upon  the  blood 
of  the  trepass-offering.  18.  And  the  remnant  of  the  oil  that 
is  on  the  priest's  palm  he  shall  put  upon  the  head  of  him  that 
is  to  be  cleansed  ;  and  the  priest  shall  atone  for  him  before  the 

ence.  15-17.  Take  of  the  log  of  oil.  This  is  not  the  aDoiDting 
oil  (Ex.  XXX.  24;  Lev.  viii.  10),  but  mere  olive  oil.  The  blood 
denotes  expiation ;  the  oil  sanctification.  Spatter.  This  is  usually 
done  with  the  finger  (iv.  6)  Seven  times  before  the  Lord.  Seyen 
times  in  token  of  perfection.  The  spattering  of  the  oil  before  the 
Lord  at  the  altar  of  burnt-sacrifice  is  a  dedication  of  the  oil  to  its 
sacred  use,  and  an  acknowledgment  that  he  is  holy  and  the  Author  of 
holiness,  aad  that  all  his  people  ought  to  be  holy.  17.  Upon  the 
blood  of  the  trespass-offering.  This  is  an  emphatic  testimony  that 
sanctification  comes  through  atonement,  and  that  both  are  equally 
requisite  for  the  returning  sinner.  18.  Upon  the  head.  This  com- 
pletes his  priestly  consecration  to  be  a  member  of  the  holy  nation. 
It  is  remarkable  how  closely  the  restoration  of  the  leper  here  re- 
sembles the  consecration  of  the  priest.  It  is  to  be  observed,  however, 
that  the  characteristic  ceremony  of  the  filling  of  the  hands,  which  is 
the  essence  of  the  official  consecration,  is  wanting  here.  Of  him  that 
is  to  be  cleansed.  The  old  English  phrase,  "of  him  that  is  a  cleansing," 
would  be  more  exact  here.  Every  part  of  the  process,  from  the  first 
command  issued  by  the  priest  to  the  offering  of  the  oblation,  was  in- 
cluded in  the  formal  act  of  cleansing  or  declaring  him  clean.  But  the 
water  and  the  oil  symbolize  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  the  agent  of  cleansing 
or  sanctification,  and  the  sevenfold  application  of  each  is  the  formal 
cleansing  of  the  leper.  And  the  priest  shall  atone  for  him.  This 
shows  that  the  sacrifices  now  offered  on  the  occasion  of  the  leper 


184  THE  LAW  OF  THE  LEPER. 

Lord.  19.  And  tlie  priest  shall  offer  the  sm-sacrifice,  and 
shall  atone  for  him  that  is  to  be  cleansed  from  his  uncleanness ; 
and  afterward  he  shall  slay  the  burnt-sacrifice.  20.  And  the 
priest  shall  offer  the  burnt-sacrifice  and  the  oblation  on  the 
altar ;  and  the  priest  shall  atone  for  him  and  he  shall  be 
clean.  S 


being  pronounced  clean  have  a  different  function  from  that  of  cleansing. 
They  atone.  The  leper  was  ah-eady  clean,  when  the  priest  inspected 
and  passed  him.  He  had  only  to  be  ceremonially  cleansed,  or  solemnly 
pronounced  clean  by  the  application  of  the  water  and  the  oil.  This 
was  necessarily  accompanied  with  appropriate  sacrifices,  by  wliich  the 
priest  atones  for  him,  that  is,  makes  him  rectum  in  curia,  right  in 
heaven's  court.  19.  The  sin-sacrijice.  This  is  the  ewe-lamb,  which 
is  equivalent  to  the  she-kid  of  the  goats,  which  was  appointed  as  a 
sin-sacrifice  for  one  of  the  people  (iv.  28).  Here  we  see  the  trespass- 
ofifering  and  the  sin-sacrifice  for  the  worshipper  in  one  and  the  same 
condition  of  sin.  This  j^roves  that  they  refer  to  different  aspects  of 
the  same  offence.  The  former  respects  the  righteousness  that  ought 
to  have  been  rendered,  but  was  not ;  the  latter,  the  wrong  that  was 
done,  and  must  be  undone  by  the  endurance  of  an  equivalent  pain. 
As  the  leper  is  restored  to  life,  it  is  natural  that  the  offering  that 
represents  amends  or  righteousness  sliould  take  the  prominent  place. 
The  hurnt-sacrijice.  After  being  discharged  from  the  guilt  of  the 
occasional  sin  of  an  inadvertent  nature  connected  with  his  malady,  he 
is  prepared  for  offering  the  burnt-sacrifice,  by  which  is  at  the  same 
time  commemorated  and  foreshadowed  the  great  propitiation  for  sin, 
as  the  fallen  condition  of  each  member  of  the  human  race.  Then  it 
was  strictly  a  foreshadowing;  but  after  the  first  institution  of  the 
typical  sacrifice,  it  was  also  a  commemorating  for  the  strengthening 
of  faith  and  the  revival  of  the  sense  of  peace  with  God.  20.  The 
hurnt-sacrijice  and  the  oblation  on  the  altar.  The  burnt-sacrifice  was 
wholly  burned  on  the  altar,  as  an  emblem  of  the  all-sufiicient  pro- 
pitiation. The  oblation,  which  was  proportionate  to  the  three  offerings 
presented,  appears  on  this  occasion  to  have  been  also  wholly  consumed 
on  the  fire  of  the  altar.     As  the  life  of  the  leper  was  restored,  after 


LEVITICUS  XIV.  20-23.  155 

21.  And  if  ho  be  poor  and  his  hand  find  not,  tlien  he  shall 
take  one  lamb  for  a  trespass-offering  to  be  waved  to  atone  for 
him,  and  one  tenth  deal  of  flour  mingled  with  oil  for  an  obla- 
tion, and  a  log  of  oil.  22.  And  two  doves  or  two  pigeons,  as 
his  hand  may  find  :  and  the  one  shall  be  for  a  sin-sacrifice  and 
the  other  for  a  burnt-sacrifice.  23.  And  he  shall  bring  them 
on  the  eighth  day  for  his  cleansing  unto  the  priest,  to  the  door 
of  the  tent  of  meeting  before  the  Lord.  2-1.  And  the  priest 
shall  take  the  lamb  of  the  trespass-offering  and  the  log  of  oil ; 
and  the  priest  shall  make  them  a  waving  before  the  Lord. 
25.  And  he  shall  slay  the  lamb  of  the  trespass-offering,  and 
the  priest  shall  take  of  the  blood  of  the  trespass-offering  and 
put  it  upon  the  tip  of  the  right  ear  of  him  that  is  to  be  cleansed, 
and  upon  the  thumb  of  his  right  hand,  and  upon  the  great  toe 
of  his  right  foot.     26.  And  the  priest  shall  pour  of  the  oil  upon 

having  given  way  to  the  death  that  followed  an  incurable  malady,  it 
is  natural  that  propitiation  in  contrast  with  expiation  should  have  the 
foreground.  And  the  oblation  represents  the  righteousness  which  on 
the  part  of  the  substitute  propitiates.  Accordingly,  it  is  added  once 
more  :  "  And  the  priest  shall  atone  for  him."  The  great  propitiatory 
sacrifice  is  once  more  brought  in  remembrance  before  God  on  his 
behalf. 

21-32.  The  poor  leper's  offering.  The  poor  man  is  allowed  to 
substitute  two  doves  or  pigeons  for  the  lambs  to  be  offered  for  a  sin- 
sacrifice  and  a  burnt-sacrifice.  No  exchange,  however,  is  allowed  for 
the  trespass-offering.  This  intimates  that  the  amends  must  be  an 
exact  equivalent,  and  admits  of  no  abatement  (v.  15).  The  process, 
wliich  is  otherwise  the  same,  is,  however,  very  minutely  described, 
after  the  manner  of  Scripture.  21.  Poor^^  leaning  or  dependent  on 
another,  because  unable  to  stand  alone.  His  hand  findeth  not ;  his 
ability  does  not  reach  to  two  or  three  lambs.  One  tenth  deal,  cor- 
responding to  the  one  lamb  which  he  brings.  22-31.  The  ritual 
observance  is  here  the  same  as  before.  23.  On  the  eighth  day  for  his 
cleansing,  for   the   rite  in  which  he  declares  him  clean,  and  makes 


186  THE  LAW  OF  THE  LEPER. 

the  left  palm  of  the  priest.  27.  And  the  priest  shall  spatter 
with  his  right  finger  of  the  oil  that  is  on  his  left  palm  seven 
times  before  the  Lord.  28.  And  the  priest  shall  put  of  the  oil 
that  is  on  his  palm  upon  the  tip  of  the  right  ear  of  him  tliat  is 
to  be  cleansed,  and  upon  the  thumb  of  his  right  hand  and 
upon  the  great  toe  of  his  right  foot,  upon  the  place  of  the  blood 
of  the  trespass-offering.  29.  And  the  remnant  of  the  oil  that 
is  on  the  priest's  palm  he  shall  put  upon  the  head  of  him  that 
is  to  be  cleansed  to  atone  for  him  before  the  Lord.  30.  And 
he  shall  offer  the  one  of  the  doves  or  of  the  pigeons,  as  his 
hand  findeth.  31.  Whatever  his  hand  findeth,  the  one  a  sin- 
sacrifice  and  the  other  a  burnt-sacrifice,  with  the  oblation :  and 
the  priest  shall  atone  for  him  that  is  to  be  cleansed  before  the 
Lord.  32.  This  is  the  law  of  him  in  whom  is  a  plague  of 
leprosy,  whose  hand  cannot  find  for  his  cleansing.  *[[ 

atonement  for  him.  28.  Upon  the  place  of  the  hlood  of  the  trespass- 
offering.  The  expression  is  even  more  precise  and  pointed  than  in 
vs.  17.  The  place  is  the  very  spot  on  which  the  blood  was  applied. 
29.  To  atone  for  him.  The  application  of  the  oil  is  here  made  to  have 
part  in  the  atonement.  This  arises  from  the  log  of  oil  being  waved 
before  the  Lord  with  the  lamb  of  the  trespass-offering.  The  atoning 
thus  refers  back  to  the  lamb  that  was  slain.  And  the  lesson  we  have 
to  learn  is,  that  without  faith  in  the  Mediator  the  atonement  will  not 
avail  for  us.  31.  With^^  the  oblation.  This  is  a  mere  variation  for 
"  and  the  oblation  "  (vs.  20) .  Shall  atone.  The  atoning  is  mentioned 
a  second  time,  as  before.  32.  This  is  the  law.  This  verse  recapitu- 
lates the  last  paragraph  relating  to  the  poor  man.  For  his  cleansing, 
for  the  offerings  to  be  made  and  the  symbols  of  cleansing  to  be  ap- 
plied on  the  occasion  of  his  recovery.  This  closes  the  law  of  the 
leper.  Uncleanness  of  the  deepest  degree  attaches  to  the  leper. 
Ceremonial  uncleanness  involves  ceremonial  guilt,  and  demands  an 
atonement.  So  moral  impurity  involves  moral  guilt,  which  requires 
a  propitiation.     The  uncleanness  and  the  guilt  mutually  imply  each 


LEVITICUS  XIV.  32-34.  187 

33.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and  unto  Aaron,  saying, 
34.  When  ye  go  into  the  land  of  Kenaan,  which  I  give  you 
for  a  possession,  and  I  put  a  plague  of  leprosy  in  a  house  of 

other ;  yet  they  are  totally  distinct,  and  must  be  removed  by  totally 
different  means.  The  Spirit  of  God  by  the  truth  of  revelation  re- 
moves moral  impurity ;  the  Mediator  by  his  undertaking  for  the 
guilty  relieves  him  from  the  consequences  of  his  guilt.  When  the 
Spirit  displaces  impurity,  he  at  the  same  time  replaces  purity  in 
the  soul ;  so  when  the  Mediator  by  his  dying  releases  the  guilty 
from  penal  death,  he  at  the  same  time  by  his  doing  restores  him  to 
rightful  life.  The  symbols  of  purification  and  propitiation  come 
together  in  the  ceremonial  connected  with  the  leper's  re-entrance 
into  communion  with  God.  The  water  and  the  blood  meet  in  the 
initial  sacrifice ;  the  oil  and  the  blood  are  associated  in  the  final  one. 
If  the  water  and  the  oil  are  to  be  distinguished,  the  oil  lays  the 
emphasis  on  the  enlightening  of  the  understanding ;  the  water,  on  the 
rectifying  of  the  will.  The  blood  and  the  fat  of  the  victim  invariably 
belong  to  the  altar.  The  blood  is  sprinkled  on  its  sides,  or  applied  to 
its  horns ;  the  fat  is  burned  upon  its  hearth.  The  blood  expiates ; 
the  fat  propitiates.  They  correspond  to  the  passive  and  active  obe- 
dience of  the  Mediator.  The  death  and  then  the  life  are  strikingly 
represented  by  the  two  birds.  As  these  are  two  parts  of  the  ex- 
perience of  the  one  Mediator,  they  really  involve  and  shadow  forth 
the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection.  This  is  singularly  appropriate  to 
the  case  of  the  leper,  who  has  in  a  physical  sense  passed  from  death 
unto  life.  The  trespass-offering,  which  represents  the  active  obedience 
of  the  Mediator,  by  which  he  becomes  entitled  to  life,  is  justly  con- 
spicuous in  the  case  of  the  leper  who  has  been  unexpectedly  blessed 
with  a  renewal  of  life. 

33-53.  House  leprosy.  This  forms  a  distinct  communication  ad- 
dressed to  Moses  and  Aaron.  34.  When  ye  go  into  the  land.  This 
provision  is  not  for  the  present,  as  the  preceding  paragraphs  show 
themselves  to  be  by  the  reference  to  the  camp.  It  is  a  prospective 
arrangement  for  the  future  condition  of  the  people,  when  they  should 
dwell  in  houses  in  the  land  of  promise.     Which  1  give  you.     More 


188  THE  LAW  OF  THE  LEPER. 

the  laud  of  your  possession ;  35.  Then  he  that  owneth  the 
house  shall  go  and  tell  the  priest,  saying,  There  seemeth  to 
me  as  it  were  a  plague  in  the  house.  36.  And  the  priest  shall 
command,  and  they  shall  clear  the  house,  before  the  priest 
goes  in  to  see  the  plague,  that  all  that  is  in  the  house  be  not 

than  four  centuries  ago  the  land  was  promised  to  the  seed  of  Abraham. 
But  it  is  only  now  to  be  given,  for  two  reasons :  first,  because  the 
iniquity  of  the  Amorites  is  only  now  full,  and  they  are  to  be  judicially 
swept  away  ;  and  secondly,  because  the  seed  has  now  become  a  nation 
large  enough  to  occupy  the  land  from  which  they  were  to  be  instru- 
mental in  expelHng  the  doomed  race  (Gen.  xv.).  And  I 'put  a  plague. 
God  is  the  Governor  and  Administrator,  as  well  as  the  Creator  of 
the  world ;  and,  whatever  man  might  say,  from  whose  mind  God  is 
often  more  remote  than  the  laws  of  nature,  regards  and  speaks  of  the 
whole  process  of  things  ordinary  and  extraordinary  as  under  the 
control  of  his  providence.  The  pestilence  which  infests  the  walls  of 
a  house  is  designated  by  the  general  term  leprosy,  simply  because  it 
has,  not  an  identity,  but  an  analogy  with  the  human  disease  called  by 
that  name.  35.  He  that  owneth  the  house  is  bound  to  give  notice  to 
the  priest.  Even  self-interest  moves  him  to  do  so,  as  disease,  as  well 
as  dirt  and  decay  in  a  house,  is  an  obvious  cause  of  disease  to  its 
inhabitant.  As  it  were  a  plague.  The  suspicion  of  a  pestilential 
disease  has  been  awakened  in  his  mind  by  the  appearance  of  the 
house.  The  priest  only  is  competent  to  pronounce  it  clean  or  unclean. 
36.  TJie  priest  shall  command.  This  phrase  is  used  when  something 
is  to  be  done  by  others,  and  in  this  case  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
house.  The  thing  commanded  is  contained  in  the  following  clause. 
Clear  the  house,  prepare  it  for  inspection  by  removing  the  furniture 
and  the  inhabitants.  This  was  no  great  trouble  in  the  mild  climate 
and  simple  habits  of  the  country.  Tent  life  was  not  unfamiliar.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  the  things  in  the  house  may  not  partake  in  its 
uncleanness,  in  the  event  of  the  leprosy  being  found  in  it.  There  is 
a  wonderful  considerateness  in  the  divine  ordinances.  This  pre- 
caution is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  uncleanness  spoken  of  in  the 
text  is   ceremonial,  and   not  arising   from   infection.     The   noxious 


LEVITICUS  XIV.  36-40.  189 

defiled ;  and  after  this  the  priest  shall  go  in  to  see  the  house, 
37.  And  he  shall  see  the  plague,  and  behold  the  plague  in  the 
walls  of  the  house  consists  of  greenish  or  reddish  strakes  ;  and 
their  look  is  lower  than  the  wall.  38.  And  the  priest  shall 
come  out  of  the  house  to  the  door  of  the  house,  and  shut  up 
the  house  seven  days.  39.  And  the  priest  shall  return  on  the 
seventh  day,  and  see,  and  behold  the  plague  hath  spread  in 
the  walls  of  the  house.     40.  Then  the  priest  shall  command, 


growth  on  the  walls  was  no  doubt  injurious  to  health,  and  might 
even  conduce  to  leprosy ;  but  there  was  no  disease  in  the  walls  which 
could  be  communicated  by  contagion  to  the  human  subject.  37. 
Greenish  or  reddish  strahesF  These  streaks  are  the  indications  of 
the  dry  rot,  a  disease  affecting  timber.  "When  produced  by  the 
attacks  of  fungi,  the  first  stage  of  it  consists  in  the  appearance  of 
small  white  points,  from  which  a  filamentous  substance  radiates, 
parallel  with  the  surface  of  the  timber.  This  is  the  first  stage  of 
growth  of  the  seeds  of  the  fungus,  and  the  filamentous  matter  is  their 
thallus  or  spawn.  This  insinuates  itself  into  the  crevices  of  the  wood, 
forces  its  parts  asunder,  and  causes  in  the  end  the  total  ruin  of  the 
timber.  The  fructification  and  growth  of  Merulius  lachrymans, 
Polyporus  destructor,  and  other  fungi  exercise  their  destructive  power 
on  timber.  This  disease  spreads  from  the  wood-work  to  the  walls 
of  a  house,  especially  in  damp  situations  and  amid  heaps  of  refuse, 
and  eventually  succeeds  in  crumbling  them  to  pieces.  The  greenish 
and  reddish  colors  observed  in  the  patches  of  fungous  matter  arise 
from  the  vegetative  and  chemical  influences  which  are  at  work.'"'^ 
And  their  look  is  lower  than  the  wall.  The  consumptive  influence 
of  these  fungous  plants  has  penetrated  beneath  the  surface  of  the  wall. 
It  is  not  a  mere  discoloring  moisture,  flowing  down  the  surface.  It 
has  sent  its  roots  and  filaments  into  the  material  of  the  wall.  39. 
The  usual  process  of  inspection  takes  place,  and  the  plague  is  found 
to  be  spreading.  40.  Pull  out  the  stones.  The  priest  now  commands 
that  the  material  affected  by  the  plague  be  removed.  K  the  fungous 
excrescence   be   entirely  removed,   the   disease   may  be   eradicated. 


190  THE  LAW  OF  THE  LEPER. 

and  they,  shall  pull  out  the  stones  in  which  the  plague  is,  and 
cast  them  outside  the  city  in  an  unclean  place.  41.  And  he 
shall  have  the  house  scraped  within  around,  and  they  shall 
pour  out  the  dust  that  they  scrape  off  outside  the  city  in  an 
unclean  place.  42.  And  they  shall  take  other  stones,  and  put 
them  in  the  place  of  those  stones ;  and  other  dust  he  shall 
take  and  plaster  the  house.  43.  And  if  the  plague  return 
and  break  out  in  the  house  after  pulling  out  the  stones  and 
after  scraping  the  house  and  after  it  is  plastered ;  44.  Then 
the  priest  shall  go  in  and  see,  and  behold  the  plague  has  spread 
in  the  house  ;  it  is  a  fretting  leprosy  in  the  house  ;  it  is  un- 
clean.   45.  And  he  shall  pull  down  the  house,  its  stones  and  its 

Cast  them  outside  the  city.  This  implies  that  the  house  is  in  a  town, 
where  the  plague  is  more  likely  to  arise,  on  account  of  the  density  of 
the  population  and  the  absence  of  any  sufficient  arrangements  for 
ventilation  or  cleanliness.  In  an  unclean  place,  that  no  clean  place 
may  be  defiled  with  the  rubbish.  If  there  were  no  such  place,  some 
uncultivated  or  unprofitable  spot  would  be  chosen,  which  would 
become  ceremonially  unclean  by  the  very  presence  of  the  infected 
material.  41.  Scraped  within  around,  the  outer  coating  of  mortar 
or  clay  removed  from  the  whole  inner  side  of  the  wall  all  around. 
Want  of  air  and  light  favors  the  wall  rot.  Hence  it  appears,  usually, 
in  the  inside  of  damp,  unventilated  rooms,  especially  cellars.  TTie 
dust,  the  crumbled  material  out  of  which  the  plaster  was  made,  by 
means  of  water,  and  into  which  it  now  when  scraped  off  returns. 
This  indicates  a  wall  of  clay  or  stone,  covered  with  some  kind  of 
plaster.  This  was  obviously  the  ordinary  style  of  architecture  in 
Palestine  at  the  date  of  the  enactment.  42.  Other  stones  are  to 
replace  those  taken  away.  Other  dust  is  to  be  made  into  plaster, 
with  which  the  whole  wall  is  to  be  plastered  anew.  The  dust  was 
probably  mere  clay.  43,  44.  If  after  this  thorough  repair  the  plague 
reappear  and  spread  in  the  house,  it  proves  itself  to  be  too  deep-seated 
for  any  partial  remedy,  and  the  house  is  condemned.  It  is  a  fretting 
leprosy,  similar  to  that  in  a  garment  (xiii.  51),  a  noxious  and  incurable 


LEVITICUS  XIV.  45-49.  191 

timber  and  all  the  dust  of  the  house,  and  carry  them  outside 
the  city  into  an  unclean  place.  46.  And  he  that  goeth  into 
the  house  all  the  while  he  hath  shut  it  up  shall  be  unclean 
until  the  even.  47.  And  he  that  lieth  in  the  house  shall  wash 
his  clothes ;  and  he  that  eateth  in  the  house  shall  wash  his 
clothes.  48.  And  if  the  priest  do  go  in  and  see,  and  behold 
the  plague  hath  not  spread  in  the  house,  after  the  house  is 
plastered,  then  the  priest  shall  pronounce  the  house  clean, 
because  the  plague  is  healed.  49.  And  he  shall  take  to  purge 
the  house  two  birds  and  cedar  wood  and  crimson  wool  and 


plague.  45.  And  he  shall  pull  down.  As  the  garment  with  the 
fretting  leprosy  is  to  be  burned,  so  the  house  is  to  be  pulled  down. 
The  house  is,  as  it  were,  the  outer  garment  of  the  man.  Its  materials 
are  mostly  incombustible ;  but  it  can  be  pulled  down.  This  is  done 
by  the  order  of  the  priest.  All  the  materials  are  to  be  removed  from 
the  town.  Houses  in  the  East,  in  those  early  times,  were  not  of  great 
value,  and  could  be  replaced  at  a  moderate  cost.  4G,  47.  lie  that 
goeth  into  the  house.  The  needful  or  accidental  occasion  of  going  into 
the  house  is  not  indicated.  The  consequence  only  is  noted.  He  that 
entered  it  during  the  period  of  its  being  closed  for  probation  was 
unclean  until  the  evening.  He  that  slept  or  ate  in  it  must  further  wash 
his  clothes.  48.  If  the  disease  do  not  spread,  or  make  its  appearance 
in  the  new  plaster,  the  house  is  to  be  pronounced  clean.  49.  To 
purge  ^^  the  house,  to  release  it  from  the  guilt,  and  at  the  same  time 
from  the  defilement  of  sin.  The  house  is  regarded  as  a  part  or 
property  of  the  man,  and  hence  is  treated  as  involved  in  his  guilt.  It 
is  hereby  intimated  that  sin  has  tainted  the  human  race,  and  this  moral 
evil  has  caused  that  to  be  a  source  of  defilement  which  otherwise 
would  not.  All  things  work  together  for  good  to  the  right-minded. 
But  the  self-same  concatenation  of  events  work  together  for  evil  to 
the  wrong-minded.  These  are  but  the  two  sides  of  the  one  principle 
of  things  proceeding  from  the  inscrutable  wisdom  of  God.  To  purge 
the  healed  house,  then,  is  virtually  to  make  expiation  for,  and  also  to 
cleanse  from,  the  sin  of  the  inhabitant  or  owner  of  the  house.     The 


192  THE  LAW  OF  THE  LEPER. 

hyssop.  50.  And  he  shall  slay  the  one  bird  in  an  earthen 
vessel  over  fresh  water.  51.  And  he  shall  take  the  cedar  wood 
and  the  hyssop  and  the  crimson  wool  and  the  live  bird,  and 
dip  them  in  the  blood  of  the  slain  bird  and  in  the  fresh  water ; 
and  he  shall  spatter  on  the  house  seven  times.  52.  And  he 
shall  purge  the  house  with  the  blood  of  the  bird  and  with  the 
fresh  water  and  with  the  live  bird  and  with  the  cedar  wood 

word  "  purge  "  is  here  designedly  adopted  to  allow  of  expiation  and 
purification  being  both  included.  Two  birds,  sparrows,  or  the  like,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  leper  himself.  There  was,  then,  a  very  close 
parallel  between  the  two  cases.  The  disease  of  leprosy  affected  the 
body.  But  the  body  is  not  the  man,  and  is  not  in  itself  capable  of 
any  moral  activity  or  accountability.  Yet  it  is  the  house  of  a  soul 
capable  of  intelligent  volition,  and  therefore  of  moral  conduct  and 
responsibility.  When  this  body  is  affected  with  a  mortal  disease,  it 
is  suffering  the  consequences  of  the  sin  of  the  soul  that  inhabits  it. 
The  stone  and  mortar  house  is  but  an  outer  and  wider  habitation, 
which  the  rational  creature,  susceptible  of  heat  and  cold,  constructs 
for  himself  to  shelter  him  from  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather.  If 
the  malady  of  the  inner  house  is  an  index  of  guilt  in  the  inhabitant 
affecting  the  habitation,  the  distemper  of  the  outer  house  is  to  be 
regarded  as  a  similar  sign  of  guilt  in  the  inmate.  Hence  each  of 
them  is  purged  by  the  same  sacred  rite.  Cedar  wood  and  crimson 
wool  and  hyssop  are  therefore  associated  with  the  two  birds.  50-53, 
Hence  the  process  of  making  expiation  for  the  healed  house  is  merely 
a  reiteration  of  the  interesting  preliminary  ceremony  employed  on 
the  occasion  of  declaring  the  man  who  was  healed  of  the  leprosy  to  be 
clean.  In  the  blood  of  the  slain  bird  and  in  the  fresh  water.  Here  it 
is  made  more  plain  than  in  vs.  6  that  these  were  dipped  in  the  water, 
as  well  as  in  the  blood,  or  in  the  blood  diffused  in  the  water.  Spatter 
on  the  house,  as  he  before  spattered  on  the  healed  body  (vs.  7).  In 
this  spattering  of  the  commingled  blood  and  water,  the  symbolic  acts 
of  expiation  and  cleansing  are  combined.  52.  And  he  shall  purge.  It 
is  remarkable  that  this  word  does  not  occur  in  the  corresponding  cere- 
mony for  the  leper.     Yet  the  meaning  must  be  the  same,  as  the  same 


LEVITICUS  XIV.  52-57.  193 

and  with  the  hyssop  and  with  the  crimson  wool.  53.  And  he 
shall  send  the  live  bird  out  of  the  city  into  the  open  field  ;  and 
be  shall  atone  for  the  house,  and  it  shall  be  clean. 

54.  This  is  the  law  for  every  plague  of  leprosy  and  for  the 
scall.  55.  And  for  the  lepjrosy  of  a  garment  and  for  the  house. 
56.  And  for  the  risino;  and  for  the  scab  and  for  the  blotch. 


elements  are  employed  in  precisely  the  same  way.  This  is  therefore 
a  new  instance  of  one  account  supplementing  and  explaining  another. 
With  the  hlood  of  the  hird  and  with  the  fresh  water  and  with.  Here 
are  three  things  with  which  this  purging  is  accomplished  —  with  the 
blood  of  the  bird,  which  expiates  ;  with  the  fresh  water,  which  cleanses ; 
and  with  the  cedar  wood  and  hyssop  and  crimson  wool,  which  express 
the  faith  which  flows  from  a  cleansed  heart,  and  relies  on  the  shed 
blood  of  atonement.  Hence  we  see  that  purging  from  sin  is  a  preg- 
nant word  when  it  is  accompanied  with  the  symbol  of  sanctification, 
as  well  as  that  of  justification,  and  denotes  both  expiation  and  cleansing. 
And  he  shall  atone,  that  is,  propitiate.  This  is  employed,  as  before, 
to  express  making  satisfaction  for  sin  in  contradistinction  to  expelling 
it  from  the  heart  by  a  new  and  holy  disposition. 

54-57.  A  formal  recapitulation  of  this  and  the  preceding  chapter. 
54.  The  leprosy  proper  is  discussed  in  xiii.  1-28,  the  scall  in  xiii. 
29-37.  55.  The  leprosy  of  a  garment  is  regulated  in  xiii.  47-59, 
that  of  a  house  in  xiv.  33-53.  56.  The  rising  scab  and  blotch  are 
mentioned  in  xiii.  2,  and  discussed  under  the  head  of  leprosy.  It  is 
evident  from  this  enumeration  of  topics  that  the  sacred  writer  has 
before  him  three  divine  communications,  which  he  does  not  feel 
himself  at  liberty  to  alter  in  matter  or  arrangement.  In  his  enumera- 
tion, however,  he  touches  upon  the  principal  points  in  the  order  of 
thought.  Under  the  head  of  leprosy  proper  he  includes  xiii.  1-28 
and  xiv.  1-32.  Passing  over  minor  topics,  he  distinguishes  the  scall, 
in  xiii.  29-37,  from  the  leprosy.  He  then  brings  together  lej^rosy  of 
a  garment  and  of  a  house.  lie  then  notices  the  rising,  scab,  and 
blotch,  which  may  in  certain  cases  be  distinct  from  real  leprosy.  57. 
Lastly,  he  indicates  the  precise  design  with  which  these  chapters 
were  given.  To  teach,  to  give  plain  instructions  for  discerninof  the 
25 


194  THE  LAW  OF  THE  LEPER. 

57.  To  teach  when  he  is  unclean  and  when  he  is  clean :  this  is 
the  law  of  leprosy.  ^ 

leprosy.  When  he  is  unclean;'''  when  the  person  examhied  is  affected 
with  the  disease,  and  therefore  unclean.  And  when  he  is  clean, 
when  he  is  free  from  disease,  and  must  therefore  be  pronounced  clean. 
It  is  remarkable  that  in  this  summary  the  priest  is  simply  said  to  be 
taught  to  discern  the  disease  and  to  pronounce  unclean  or  clean,  ac- 
cording to  its  presence  or  absence.  To  heal  is  no  part  of  his  official 
duty.  From  first  to  last  this  is  a  religious  ceremonial,  though  it  has 
an  important  bearing  on  health. 

NOTES. 

4.  Bird,  IISS ,  small  bird,  sparrow,  opvlOiov ;  r.  chirp,  twitter. 
Cedar,  ^nx ,  Ke'Spos,  cedar,  but  supposed  to  denote  the  juniper  in 
Homer  and  in  Theophrastus.  crimson,  ni'bi'n  "^JTr ,  shining,  or  dyed 
with  the  worm.  The  worm  is  the  coccus  insect :  KeKXuxrfjiivov'KOKKivov, 
crimson  yarn.  Hyssop,  2tx  ,  {jo-o-wttos.  These  words  are  evidently  the 
same,  the  plant  and  name  having  come  from  the  East. 

21.  Poor,  V'n,  hanging,  dependent. 

31.  With,  bv ,  upon.  As  the  burnt-sacrifice  in  this  case  is  a  dove 
or  pigeon,  it  may  be  placed  on  the  flour.  But  the  preposition  may 
denote  mere  concomitancy. 

37.  Strakes,  nisi^S^i^a ,  sinkings;  r.  1?;?  (F.)  or  yj^'r  (Ges.),  sink, 
be  hollow.  "At  work."  See  Penny  Cyc,  art.  Dry-rot ;  Duns,  Bib. 
Nat.  Sci.  p.  109  ;  Brit,  and  For.  Evang.  Review  XLVii.  Bib.  Bot. 

49.  Purge,  i<on.  This  verb  may  have  different  objects.  When 
the  victim  is  its  object  it  means  to  offer  for  sin  (vi.  19).  When  the 
party  for  whom  the  victim  is  offered  is  its  object  it  strictly  means  to 
expiate  sin  in  or  for.  When  the  symbol  of  purification  as  well  as  that 
of  expiation  is  expressed  or  implied,  as  in  the  present  case,  it  may  be 
rendered  purge  or  deliver  from  the  bondage  as  well  as  the  guilt  of  sin. 

57.  When  he  is  unclean  and  when  he  is  clean ;  literally,  in  the  day 
of  the  unclean  and  in  the  day  of  the  clean. 


LEVITICUS  XV.  1-8.  195 


XV.    THE  LAW  OF  ISSUES. 


XV.  1.  Aud  tliG  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  and  unto  Aaron,  say- 
ing, 2.  Speak  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  When 
any  man  hath  an  issue  from  his  flesh,  in  his  issue  he  is  unclean. 
3.  And  this  is  his  uncleanness  in  his  issue :  whether  his  flesh 
run  with  his  issue  or  his  flesh  stop  from  his  issue,  it  is  his 
uncleanness.  4.  Every  bed  on  which  he  that  hath  the  issue 
lieth  is  unclean,  and  every  seat  on  which  he  sitteth  is  unclean. 

5.  And  he  that  toucheth  his  bed  shall  wash  his  clothes  and 
wash   himself  with  water,  and   be   unclean   until  the  even. 

6.  And  he  that  sitteth  on  the  seat  on  which  he  that  hath  the 
issue  sat  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  wash  himself  with  water, 

This  chapter  contains  one  communication,  which  is  made  to  Moses 
and  Aaron  together,  by  whom  it  is  to  be  conveyed  to  the  people.  It 
is  on  the  subject  of  issues  which  involve  uncleanness.  It  gives  direc- 
tions concerning  an  issue  to  which  men  are  liable  (1-15),  the  seed  of 
cohabitation  (16-18),  the  monthly  secretion  of  women  (19-24),  and 
a  bloody  flux  in  women  (25-30),  followed  by  a  conclusion  (31-33). 

1—15.  An  issue  of  the  flesh.  2.  Hath  an  issue,  literally,  is  flowing 
or  discharging,  denoting  a  continuous  flux.  From  his  Jlesh,  that  is, 
from  his  body.  This  does  not  define  the  nature  of  the  issue,  nor  the 
source  of  it,  but  leaves  it  in  its  generality,  where  we  ought  also  to 
leave  it.  Even  the  distinction  of  sex  is  not  here  to  be  pressed. 
Thei'e  are  many  diseases  common  to  both  sexes,  which  are  character- 
ised by  a  discharge  of  some  kind.  In  his  issue  he  is  unclean.  Tliis 
is  the  point  in  question.  The  malady  is  not  otherwise  regarded  than 
as  an  occasion  of  uncleanness.  3.  Whether  his  flesh  run.  This  is 
descriptive  of  some  complaint  in  which  the  flux  is  intermittent,  and 
may  stop  for  a  time,  though  the  disease  remains  unhealed.  This  may 
include  blind  piles  and  other  diseases  of  an  analogous  kind.  While 
the  malady  remains,  without  or  with  a  discharge,  the  uncleanness 
continues.  4.  Every  bed.  Every  bed  or  seat  used  by  him  is  unclean. 
5-8.  He  that  touches  his  bed  or  his  seat  or  his  flesh  or  his  spittle 


196  THE  LAW  OF  ISSUES. 

and  be  unclean  until  the  even.  7.  And  he  that  toucheth  the 
flesh  of  him  that  hath  the  issue  shall  wash  his  clothes  and 
wash  himself  with  water,  and  be  unclean  until  the  even. 
8.  And  when  he  that  hath  the  issue  spitteth  on  him  that  is 
clean,  then  he  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  wash  himself  with 
water,  and  be  unclean  until  the  even.  9.  And  every  saddle 
on  which  he  that  hath  the  issue   rideth   shall   be   unclean. 

10.  And  all  that  toucheth  anything  which  was  under  him  shall 
be  unclean  until  the  even  ;  and  he  that  carrieth  them  shall 
wash  his  clothes  and  wash  in  water,  and  be  unclean  until  the 
even.  11.  And  all,  that  he  that  hath  the  issue  toucheth  and 
hath  not  rinsed  his  hands  in  water,  shall  wash  their  clothes  and 
wash  in  water,  and  be  unclean  until  the  even.  12.  And  the 
earthen  vessel  which  he  that  hath  the  issue  toucheth  shall  be 
broken ;  and  every  wooden  vessel  shall  be  rinsed  in  water. 
13.  And  when  he  that  hath  the  issue  is  cleansed  of  his  issue, 
then  he  shall  count  for  him  seven  days  for  his  cleansing,  and 
wash  his  clothes  and  wash  his  flesh  in  fresh  water,  and  be 
clean.     14.  And  on  the  eighth  day  he  shall  take  for  him  two 

shall  wash  his  clothes,  wash  himself  with  water,  and  be  unclean  until 
the  evening.  Wash  himself.^  This  word  is  used  to  avoid  the  employ- 
ment of  the  word  bathe,  which  impHes  immersion,  a  meaning  which 
does  not  belong  to  the  original  word.  9.  The  saddle  ®  or  litter  or  car- 
riage cushion  on  which  he  rides  is  unclean.  10.  All  that  touch  or 
carry  anything  that  was  under  him  shall  be  unclean  until  the  evening. 

11.  This  verse  implies  that  if  he  rinsed  his  hands  in  water  his  touch 
would  not  defile.  1 2.  The  earthen  vessel  which  he  touches  must  be 
broken,  and  the  wooden  vessel  rinsed  in  water.  13.  "When  he  is 
restored  to  health  he  is  to  count  seven  days,  as  usual,  for  his  cleansing; 
he  is  then  to  wash  his  clothes,  wash  himself  with  fresh  water,  and  be 
clean.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  priest  is  not  required  to  determine 
whether  he  be  unclean,  as  in  the  case  of  leprosy.  The  very  fact  of 
having  an  issue  renders  him  unclean.     14.  On  the  eighth  day  he  is 


LEVITICUS  XV.  14-16.  197 

doves  or  two  pigeons,  and  come  before  the  Lord  to  the  door 
of  the  tent  of  meeting,  and  give  them  to  the  priest.  15.  And 
the  priest  shall  ofifer  them,  the  one  for  a  sin-sacrifice  and  the 
other  for  a  burnt-sacrifice  ;  and  the  priest  shall  atone  for  him 
before  the  Lord  for  his  issue.  § 

IG.  And  when  a  man's  seed  of  copulation  goeth  from  him 
then  he  shall  wash  all  his  flesh  in  water,  and  be  unclean  until 

to  bring  an  offering  prescribed  for  the  occasion.  This  was  to  be  two 
doves  or  pigeons ;  the  one  for  a  sin  and  the  other  for  a  burnt  sacrifice. 
From  this  we  learn  that  the  issue  was  merely  a  cause  of  uncleanness, 
but  did  not  exclude  from  the  society  of  the  church  or  the  home.  It 
did  not  occasion  excommunication  like  the  leprosy,  and  therefore 
the  subject  of  it  was  not  regarded  as  dead  and  restored  to  life  again 
on  account  of  his  disease  and  recovery.  Hence  he  had  not  to  offer 
the  asham  or  trespass-offering,  as  the  ground  of  restoration  to  new 
life.  This  shows  that  the  leprosy  was  regarded  as  the  exactest  type 
of  sin,  the  wages  of  which  is  death,  as  recovery  from  it  was  the  most 
striking  emblem  of  the  new  birth  and  life  everlasting.  15.  SJiall 
atone  for  Mm  before  the  Lord.  Bodily  disease  was  the  consequence 
of  sin,  and  the  outward  uncleanness,  therefore,  symbolizes  the  inward 
or  moral  uncleanness.  Hence  the  healed  patient  comes  in  humble 
faith  and  penitence  to  present  his  sin-sacrifice  for  inadvertent  sin,  and 
his  burnt-sacrifice  for  that  sin  of  his  fallen  nature  and  practice  which  has 
been  brought  to  his  knowledge,  and  through  the  gospel  of  mercy  has 
awakened  in  him  repentance  and  reliance  on  his  God.  The  appointed 
priest  of  God  meets  him  and  mediates  for  him.  His  atonement  is 
made,  and  he  is  once  more  visited  with  the  peace  and  joy  of  salvation. 
16-18.  Issue  of  seed  of  copulation.  16.  Seed  of  copulation,  literally, 
lying  of  seed.  This  Luther  interprets  to  be  the  discharge  of  seed  in 
sleep.  But  there  is  no  such  limit  in  the  text.  Neither  is  it  deter- 
mined whether  the  discharge  be  involuntary  or  induced  by  impure 
volitions.  The  ceremonial  consequence,  merely,  is  stated.  As  the 
human  race  is  corrupted  by  the  fall,  its  propagation  is  inseparably 
connected  with  sin.  Over  and  above  this,  all  unchaste  thoughts, 
words,  and  deeds  are  in  themselves  sinful.     But  these  do  not  appear 


19b  THE  LAW  OF  ISSUES. 

the  even.  17.  And  every  garment  and  every  skin  on  which 
the  seed  of  copulation  is  shall  be  washed  with  water,  and  be 
unclean  until  the  even.  18.  And  when  a  man  lieth  with  a 
woman  with  seed  of  copulation,  then  shall  they  wash  with 
water,  and  be  unclean  until  the  even.  ^ 

19.  And  when  a  woman  hath  an  issue,  and  her  issue  in  her 
flesh  is  blood,  seven  days  shall  she  be  in  her  separation,  and 
all  that  touch  her  shall  be  unclean  until  the  even.     20.  And 

to  be  intended  in  the  present  passage.  The  bare  fact  of  a  discharge 
of  seed  is  all  that  is  supposed.  This  is  manifest  from  the  intimation 
that  the  party  concerned  shall  merely  wash  with  water  and  be  unclean 
until  the  evening.  17.  The  garment  on  which  such  discharge  may 
come  is  unclean,  and  is  made  clean  in  the  usual  manner.  18.  Natural 
and  lawful  cohabitation  is  attended  with  this  temporary  uncleanness. 
The  cohabiting  of  the  sexes  in  wedlock  was  not  thereby  rendered 
unlawful ;  as  we  know  there  were  other  lawful  acts,  such  as  per- 
forming the  offices  due  to  the  dead,  burning  the  i-ed  heifer  (Num. 
xix.),  which  incurred  such  uncleanness.  This  is,  however,  the  most 
striking  indication  in  this  chapter  that  there  is  a  taint  in  the  human 
race,  originating  with  the  fall  of  our  first  parents,  and  transmitting 
itself  by  descent  from  parent  to  .child.  Were  it  not  for  the  promises 
of  mercy,  a  thoughtful  man  would  shrink  from  an  act  which  would 
tend  to  perpetuate  a  degenerate  race,  with  all  its  disastrous  conse- 
quences. But  the  humble,  penitent,  earnest  father  and  mother,  who 
endeavor  to  train  their  child  for  God,  may  confidently  expect  the 
blessing  of  a  new  heart  and  a  heavenly  hope  for  their  offspring. 
May  God  of  his  mercy  give  pious  and  faithful  parents ! 

19-24.  The  monthly  secretions  of  women.  19.  Seven  da?/s.  The 
healthy  secretion  of  blood  may  not  last  so  long.  But  since  the 
purpose  here  is  religious,  as  throughout  all  these  regulations,  the 
number  of  sacredness  and  perfection  is  chosen  as  usual.  In  her 
separations^  This  is  by  some  rendered  uncleanness.  But  this  is 
only  to  confound  it  with  other  words,  and  the  meaning  separation, 
seclusion,  or  secretion  is  best  suited  to  all  the  places  in  which  it  is 
found.     20-23.  Not  only  all  that  touch  her,  but  everything  on  which 


LEVITICUS  XV.  20-26.  199 

everything  on  which  she  lieth  in  her  separation  is  unclean,  and 
everytliing  on  which  she  sitteth  is  unclean.  21.  And  whoso- 
ever toucheth  her  bed  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  wash  in  water 
and  be  unclean  until  the  even.  22.  And  whosoever  toucheth 
anything  on  which  she  sitteth  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  wash 
in  water,  and  be  unclean  until  the  even.  23.  And  if  he  touch 
that  which  is  on  the  bed  or  on  anything  on  which  she  sitteth, 
he  shall  be  unclean  until  the  even.  24.  And  if  a  man  do  lie 
with  her,  and  her  secretion  be  upon  him,  then  he  shall  be 
unclean  seven  days,  and  every  bed  on  which  he  lieth  shall  be 
unclean.  § 

25.  And  when  a  woman  hath  an  issue  of  her  blood  many 
days  not  in  the  time  of  her  separation,  or  when  it  floweth  after 
her  separation,  all  the  days  of  the  issue  of  her  unclean  ness 
shall  be  as  the  days  of  her  separation ;  she  shall  be  unclean. 
26.  Every  bed  on  which  she  lieth  all  the  days  of  her  issue 
shall  be  to  her  as  the  bed  of  her  separation  ;  and  everything 
on  which  she  sitteth  shall  be  unclean,  as  the  uncleanness  of  her 
separation.     27.  And  every  one  that  toucheth  them  shall  be 

she  lies  or  sits,  and  every  one  that  touches  her  bed  or  seat  or  any- 
thing on  either  is  unclean.  24.  Cohabiting  with  a  woman  in  her 
flowers  was  a  crime  to  be  punished  with  excommunication  (Lev.  xx. 
18).  If  unintentional  or  accidental,  however,  the  extreme  penalty 
may  not  have  been  inflicted.  The  present  passage,  however,  has  to 
do  not  with  the  criminality,  be  the  same  more  or  less,  but  with  the 
ceremonial  defilement  consequent  upon  the  act.  It  involves  unclean- 
ness which  lasts  for  seven  days,  and  extends  to  the  bed  on  which 
he  lies. 

25-31.  Morbid  secretions  of  women.  25.  Many  days.  Two  in- 
dications of  disease  are  noticed  here.  First,  the  issue  is  not  at  the 
usual  time  of  the  monthlies ;  and  next,  it  lasts  longer  than  the  usual 
period  of  these.  The  same  rule  applies  here  as  in  the  case  of  the 
natural  secretion.     The  morbid  issue  renders  unclean.     26,  27.  Every 


200  THE  LAW  OF  ISSUES. 

unclean,  and  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  wash  in  water,  and  be 
unclean  until  the  even.  28.  And  if  she  be  cleansed  of  her 
issue,  then  she  shall  count  for  her  seven  days,  and  afterwards 
she  shall  be  clean.  29.  And  on  the  eighth  she  shall  take  for 
her  two  doves  or  two  pigeons,  and  bring  them  unto  the  priest 
to  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  30.  And  the  priest  shall 
oifer  the  one  for  a  sin-sacrifice  and  the  other  for  a  burnt-sacri- 
fice ;  and  the  priest  shall  atone  for  her  before  the  Lord  for  the 
issue  of  her  uncleanness.  31.  And  ye  shall  separate  the  sons 
of  Israel  from  their  uncleanness  ;  and  they  shall  not  die  in 
their  uncleanness,  by  defiling  my  habitation  that  is  among 
them. 

32.  This  is  the  law  of  him  that  hath  an  issue,  and  of  him 
whose  seed  cometh  from  him  to  defile  him  with  it.     33.  And 

bed  or  seat  that  she  uses  is  unclean,  and  whatsoever  touches  them 
shall  be  unclean.  28.  Seven  days  after  her  issue  is  healed,  she  shall 
be  clean  as  before.  29.  On  the  eighth  day  she  is  to  offer  the  usual 
sacrifice.  30.  And  the  priest  shall  make  atonement  for  her.  31.  Te 
shall  separate,^^  induce  them  to  avoid  all  possible  sources  of  unclean- 
ness and  all  occasions  that  lead  to  it.  And  they  shall  not  die  in 
their  uncleanness.  Death  is  the  wages  of  sin,  the  moral  uncleanness 
by  which  the  soul  is  tainted.  And  the  neglect  of  the  divinely- 
appointed  ordinances  for  the  removal  of  ceremonial  uncleanness  was 
an  offence  involving  the  penalty  of  sin.  By  defiling  my  haUtation 
that  is  among  them.  While  they  remain  in  their  uncleanness,  they 
cannot  approach  the  holy  dwelling  of  the  Lord  without  defiling  it, 
and  constraining  him  to  destroy  them  for  their  sins,  or  depart  from 
the  midst  of  them. 

32,  33.  The  recapitulation.  The  former  of  these  verses  refers  to 
the  first  two  cases  of  which  the  chapter  treats.  33.  The  second  has 
three  clauses,  of  which  the  first  refers  to  the  third  case,  the  ordinary 
monthly  affection  of  adult  females ;  the  second  generalizes  the  un- 
healthy secretions,  applying  them  to  males,  as  well  as  to  females,  and 
thus  referring  to  the  first  part  of  the  chapter  (1-15)  and  to  the  fourth 


LEVITICUS  XV.  201 

of  her  that  is  sick  in  her  flowers ;  and  of  one  that  hath  an  issue 
for  the  male  or  the  female ;  and  for  the  man  who  lieth  with 
the  unclean.  29  <^  ^  ^ 


case  (25-27)  ;  and  the  third  alludes  to  the  case  of  a  man  lying  with 
a  woman  in  her  sickness.  The  design  of  the  generalization  appears 
to  be  to  intimate  that  the  unhealthy  secretions  in  the  two  sexes  are 
parallel  to  one  another,  and  hence  its  place  in  the  summary. 

At  the  close  of  these  three  chapters  it  may  be  observed  that  those 
forms  of  disease  are  noticed  which  come  to  the  surface,  and  therefore 
may  cause  defilement.  These  are  divided  into  the  dry  or  scabby,  and 
the  moist  or  running  sores.  The  former  include  the  leprosy  and  its 
kindred  maladies;  the  latter  comprehend  all  running  issues.  Of  these 
leprosy  is  the  most  virulent  and  deadly,  and  involves  not  merely  un- 
cleanness,  but  excommunication.  The  others  occasion  only  unclean- 
ness,  and  do  not  break  up  the  social  connection.  In  the  five  preceding 
chapters  we  have  the  various  forms  of  natural  uncleanness.  They 
proceed  in  an  orderly  manner  to  the  various  animals,  then  to  human 
birth,  then  to  dry,  cutaneous  eruptions,  and  lastly  to  running  sores. 
We  shall  meet  with  other  sources  of  uncleanness  ;  but  they  are  rather 
external  than  internal,  accidental  than  natural.  The  distinction  of 
animals  and  of  men  into  clean  and  unclean  rests  ultimately  not  on 
physical,  but  on  moral  relations.  All  things  in  their  right  place  and 
time  and  application  are  clean.  Sin  only  has  put  things  out  of  the 
proper  time  and  place  and  use,  and  so  given  rise  to  the  distinction 
into  clean  and  unclean.  As  it  has  its  seat  in  the  fallen  race  of  man, 
this  race  is  the  only  earthly  subject  of  moral  impurity.  And  one 
essential  element  of  human  salvation  must  be  to  restore  moral  purity 
to  the  heart,  and  root  out  the  impurity  that  has  grown  up  in  its  place. 
These  chapters  present  to  our  view  the  primeval  elements  of  sancti- 
fication  in  a  form  suited  to  the  then  existing  stage  of  human  progress. 
We  cannot  read  the  history  of  God's  ancient  people  without  perceiving 
that  in  the  hand  of  the  Spirit  of  holiness  they  were  capable  of  effecting 
a  holy  change  in  the  heart,  and  calling  forth  the  most  sublime  and 
affecting  displays  of  enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  charity,  of 
good  will  towards  men  and  piety  towards  God.     And  from  the  history 


202  THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT. 

of  divine  revelation  we  learn  that  they  embody  the  germs  which  are 
sure  to  be  expanded  with  the  expanding  mind  of  man  into  the  great 
immutable  principles  of  a  spiritual  regeneration,  of  a  new  creation 
after  the  image  of  God.  The  most  powerful  and  adventurous  minds 
have  gone  astray  in  the  evolution  of  these  principles,  whenever  they 
have  forgotten  or  forsaken  the  light  of  revealed  truth  and  of  the 
promised  Spirit.  And  weaker  minds  have  come  equally  short  of 
their  full  and  true  development.  But  the  humble  learner,  who 
searches  the  Scriptures  and  gives  heed  to  the  Spirit  speaking  in  the 
heart,  is  born  of  God  and  walks  in  the  light  of  salvation. 

NOTES. 
2.  Having  an  issue,  St ,  literally,  flowing  with  the  stream  of  disease. 

4.  Seat,  "1^3 ,  a  very  general  word,  denoting  anything  made  for  a 
purpose,  a  utensil,  article,  vessel,  instrument,  and  here,  that  which  is 
used  for  sitting  on,  a  divan,  stool,  block,  or  stone. 

5.  Wash,  'J^n'i,  wash  oneself,  wash  a  chariot  (1  Kings  xxii.  38), 
wash  thereout  (Ex.  xl.  31).  033  is  the  word  generally  applied  to  the 
washing  of  clothes. 

9.  Saddle,  33"!^ .  The  Sept.  here  has  i-TrLcrayfia.  The  word  occurs 
also  in  1  Kings  v.  6  and  Cant.  iii.  10. 

19.  Separation,  IT^S ;  r.  ^'r:,Jlee  into  seclusion. 

31.  Separate,  ^'7r}l'^  '■>  ciXaySets  Troir/crere,  docehitis,  as  if  the  word  had 
been  dnirrtn . 


XVI.    THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT. 

This  most  remarkable  chapter  puts  the  crown  of  completeness 
upon  the  preceding  fifteen  chapters.  The  first  seven  relates  to  pro- 
pitiation in  all  its  aspects.  The  next  three  narrate  the  consecration 
of  the  priest,  the  ordinance  for  which  had  been  already  put  on  record 
in  Ex.  xxix.  We  have  thus  the  sacrifice  and  the  priest,  which  rise 
into  the  higher  unity  of  the  Mediator  who  is  both  priest  and  sacrifice. 
The  next  five  chapters  refer  to  purification,  both  in  its  highest  form 
of  life  from  the  dead,  which  is  symbolized  in  the  law  of  the  leper,  and 
in  its  lower  forms  of  recovery  from  spiritual  declension  and  progress 
in  vital  power,  which  are  shadowed  forth  in  the  regulations  concerning 


LE-\aTicus  XVI.  1, 2.  203 

XVI.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  after  the  death 
of  the  two  sons  of  Aaron,  when  they  offered  before  the  Lord 
and  died.  2.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Spealc  unto 
Aaron  thy  brother,  and  let  him  not  go  at  all  times  into  the 
holy  place  within  the  veil,  before  the  mercy-seat  which  is  upon 
the  ark,  that  he  die  not ;  for  in  the  cloud  will  I  appear  upon 

issues  of  various  kinds.  The  chapter  now  before  us  combines  the 
propitiation  and  the  purification^  which  are  the  two  great  elements 
of  salvation  that  flow  from  mercy,  the  fountain  of  all.  It  proceeds 
in  three  stages :  the  first  containing  the  preparatory  arrangements 
(1-10);  the  second  furnishing  the  details  of  the  sacrifice  (11-28), 
which  falls  into  two  parts,  relating  to  the  bullock  for  himself  and  the 
first  goat  for  the  i>eople  (11-19),  and  the  second  goat  for  the  people 
(20-18)  ;  and  the  third  stage  recording  some  particulars  concerning 
the  day  (29-34).  It  is  addressed  to  Moses  after  the  death  of  the  two 
sons  of  Aaron,  and  therefore  after  the  consecration  of  the  priests.  It 
is  to  be  communicated  by  him  to  Aaron,  whom  it  concerns. 

1-10.  The  preparatory  arrangements  of  the  day  of  atonement. 
1.  The  date  of  this  communication  is  here  given.  It  is  after  the 
inauguration  of  the  tabernacle  service  on  the  first  day  of  the  second 
year.  2.  Speak  unto  Aaron.  This  ancient  document  is  very  exact 
in  detailing  every  historical  circumstance  of  that  which  it  is  important 
to  authenticate.  Aaron  is  here  to  be  the  agent,  and  hence  the  in- 
structions are  to  be  conveyed  to  him.  Let  him  not  come  at  all  times, 
at  any  time  he  may  think  fit.  Within  the  veil.  He  comes  into  the 
holy  place  every  day  to  trim  the  lamps  on  the  golden  candlestick.  He 
draws  nigh  to  the  veil  on  the  outside  whenever  he  comes  in  with  the 
blood  of  the  sin-sacrifice  (iv.).  But  he  does  not  on  these  occasions 
go  within  the  veil.  Before  the  mercy-seat."^  This  is  called  in  the 
original  the  propitiatory,  the  seat  or  throne  where  the  Lord  is  pro- 
pitious to  his  people,  the  place  of  ultimate  atonement  in  the  very 
presence  of  the  Lord.  Tliat  he  die  not.  Aaron,  though  consecrated 
high-priest,  is  still  a  fallible  son  of  the  fallen  Adam.  Hence  he  is  in 
himself  sinful  and  unfit  to  mediate  between  God  and  man.  Nay, 
disobedience  is  as  invariably  connected  with  death  as  obedience  with 


204  THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT. 

the  mercy-seat.  3.  With  this  shall  Aaron  go  into  the  holy 
place :  with  a  bullock  of  the  herd  for  a  sin-sacrifice  and  a  ram 
for  a  burnt-sacrifice.  4.  The  holy  linen  coat  he  shall  put  on, 
and  linen  breeches  shall  be  on  his  flesh,  with  a  linen  girdle 
shall  he  be  girt,  and  be  bound  with  a  linen  mitre  :  these  are 
holy  garments,  and  he  shall  wash  his  flesh  in  water  and  put 
them  on.  5.  And  from  the  assembly  of  the  sons  of  Israel  he 
shall  take  two  kids  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-sacrifice  and  one  ram 


life.  Sinful  Aaron  cannot  come  by  himself  into  the  immediate 
presence  of  the  holy  God.  He  must  appear  before  him  only  at  the 
appointed  time  and  in  the  appointed  way.  In  the  cloud,  the  well- 
known  cloud  of  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  that  went  before  the  sons 
of  Israel  in  their  march  from  Egypt,  appeared  to  them  on  the  smoking 
mount,  and,  last  of  all,  filled  the  holy  place  and  consumed  with  fire 
the  sacrifice  on  the  altar.  The  unholy  may  not  approach  into  the 
manifested  presence  of  the  Holy  One,  except  at  the  call  of  mercy  and 
in  the  path  of  atonement  and  regeneration.  3.  With  this  shall  Aaron 
go.  He  must  enter  with  a  sin-sacrifice  and  a  burnt-sacrifice  for 
himself,  the  former  for  inadvertent  sin,  and  giving  prominence  to 
expiation ;  the  latter  for  the  whole  guilt  of  a  past  sinful  character  and 
conduct,  and  setting  forth  the  plenitude  of  propitiation.  4.  The  holy 
linen  garments  and  the  washing  with  water  are  expressive  of  the 
righteousness  and  holiness  that  belong  to  the  high-priest.  At  the 
same  time  it  is  to  be  observed  that  on  this  occasion  the  high-priest  is 
formally  to  lay  aside  his  glor.ious  and  golden  attire,  and  put  on  the 
simple  linen  coat,  girdle,  and  mitre.  The  linen  breeches  he  is  not 
said  to  put  on,  because  they  were  always  worn  by  the  priest.  There 
is  a  special  significance  in  this  change  of  raiment.  The  high-priest  is 
here  to  be  unadorned,  as  the  emblem  of  the  sin-victim  which  he  is 
about  to  offer  on  this  day  of  humiliation.  He  cannot  be  stripped  of 
his  integrity ;  but  as  a  sin-bearer  he  is  divested  of  all  his  hereditary 
glory,  and  humbled  to  the  grade  of  one  doomed  to  attainder  and  death. 
5.  And  from  the  assembly.  On  this  solemn  day  of  national  confession 
the  victims  for  the  people  are  of  the  same  import  as  those  for  himself 


LEVITICUS  XVI.  5-8.  205 

for  a  burnt-sacrifice.  6.  And  Aaron  shall  ofifer  the  bullock  of 
the  sin-sacrifice  which  is  his  own,  and  atone  for  himself  and 
for  his  house.  7.  And  he  shall  take  the  two  kids  and  place 
them  before  the  Lord  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting. 
8.  And  Aaron  shall  cast  lots  upon  the  two  goats ;  one  lot  for 
the  Lord  and  one  lot  for  the  scape-goat.     9.  And  Aaron  shall 

—  two  kids  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-sacrifice,  and  a  ram  for  a  burnt- 
offering.  6-10.  The  order  of  the  sacrifice  is  now  laid  down  in  general, 
to  be  afterwards  carried  out  in  detail.  Which  is  his  own.  He  is  first 
to  present  the  bullock  of  the  sin-sacrifice  for  himself  and  his  house. 
The  priestly  family  are  on  this  occasion  to  stand  over  against  the 
people,  as  one  great  party  in  this  transaction  with  God.  They  must 
be  themselves  at  peace  with  God,  in  order  to  mediate  between  him 
and  the  people.  And  atone,  make  propitiation  for  himself  and  his 
house.  Nothing  can  more  clearly  show  that  there  is  a  higher  Mediator, 
whose  intervention  both  he  and  the  people  need,  in  order  to  appear 
with  acceptance  before  God.  He  is  only  a  shadow  of  the  substance 
to  come.  7.  Then  follow  the  two  kids  of  the  sin-sacrifice  for  the 
people.  These  constitute  one  sin-sacrifice ;  but  two  goats  are  re- 
quired to  indicate  all  that  is  implied  in  this  sacrifice.  Place  them 
before  the  Lord.  This  is  preparatory  to  a  simple  distinction  to  be 
made  between  them  for  the  ends  of  this  peculiar  sin-sacrifice.  8.  Aaron 
shall  cast  lots.  This  shows  the  perfect  equality  of  the  two  goats  as 
representatives,  and  intimates  the  unity  of  that  which  is  represented. 
One  lot  for  the  Lord.  The  goat  on  which  this  lot  fell  was  to  be 
offered  in  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord.  And  one  lot  for  the  scape-goat.^ 
This  is  simply  the  goat  that  is  to  go  away,  escaping  from  death  into 
the  wilderness ;  a  meaning  which  is  suggested  and  sustained  by  the 
text.  As  the  question  to  be  determined  by  the  lot  is,  who  is  to  have 
the  life,  the  scape-goat  is  naturally  opposed  to  the  Lord,  inasmuch  as 
he  has  the  one  life,  while  it  has  the  other.  And,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  the  victim,  here  merely  shadowed  forth  by  the  goat,  must  be  a 
divine  person,  and  therefore  not  unsuitably  matched  with  the  Lord. 
This  simple  explanation  has  the  superlative  advantage  of  being  level 
to  the  capacity  of  the  common  mind,  while  it  is  perfectly  suitable  to 


206  THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT. 

offer  the  goat  on  which  fell  the  lot  for  the  Lord  and  make  it  a 
sin-sacrifice.  10.  And  the  goat  on  which  fell  the  lot  for  the 
scape-goat  shall  be  placed  alive  before  the  Lord  to  atone  upon 
it,  to  send  it  for  a  scape-goat  into  the  wilderness. 

11.  And  Aaron  shall  offer  the  bullock  of  the  sin-sacrifice 
which  is  his  own,  and  atone  for  himself  and  for  his  house ; 
and  he  shall  slay  the  bullock  of  the  sin-sacrifice  which  is  his 
own.     12.  And  he  shall  take  a  censerful  of  coals  of  fire  from 


the  context.  9.  The  goat  on  which  the  Lord's  lot  falls  is  to  be  offered 
for  sin.  10.  The  other  is  to  be  set  before  the  Lord  to  bear  its  part  iu 
this  peculiar  sin-sacrifice.  To  atone  upon  it}'*  This  phrase  is  parallel 
to  that  in  Ex.  xxx.  10,  and  is  explained  by  the  process  described  in 
vs.  21.  The  goat  is  an  instrument  or  a  sufferer  in  the  work  of 
making  atonement.  To  send  it  for  a  scape-goat.  This  explains  the 
part  it  has  in  accomplishing  the  atonement.  The  shedding  of  blood 
has  already  taken  place.  The  sending  away  of  the  sin-bearer  is  now 
effected.  This  will  receive  its  full  explanation  in  vs.  21,  22.  Into 
the  wilderness,  beyond  the  camp,  the  dwelling-place  of  the  saints  who 
are  in  communion  with  God.  This  makes  more  clear  the  condition 
and  destiny  of  the  scape-goat.  With  the  sin  of  the  people  upon  it,  it 
is  dismissed  from  the  region  of  blessedness,  that  those  for  whom  it 
suffers  may  escape  the  penalty  of  disobedience. 

11-28.  The  sacrifices  for  sin.  The  solemnity  of  the  occasion  is 
indicated  by  the  measured  stateliness  of  the  narrative,  which  now 
takes  a  new  start  to  describe  with  fitting  minuteness  the  transactions 
of  this  unique  day.  11.  And  Aaron  shall  offer.  He  is  now  actually 
to  proceed  with  the  offering  of  the  sin-sacrifice  for  himself.  Which  is 
his  own,  as  distinct  from  that  of  the  people.  And  atone  for  himself 
and  for  his  house.  The  reiteration  of  this  statement  makes  the  con- 
viction still  more  emphatic  that  Aaron  himself  needs  a  higher  and  a 
better  Mediator,  who  needeth  not  to  offer  up  sacrifice  first  for  his  own 
sins.  And  he  shall  slay.  As  he  is  in  this  case  the  offerer,  it  is  his 
part,  by  himself  or  his  minister,  to  slay  the  victim.  12.  The  process 
now  described  is  peculiar  to  the  day.     Take  a  censerful.     The  censer 


LEVITICUS  XVI.  12-14.  207 

the  altar  before  the  Lord,  and  his  handsful  of  incense  of  spices 
beaten  small,  and  bring  within  the  veil.  13.  And  he  shall 
put  the  incense  on  the  fire  before  the  Lord  ;  and  the  cloud 
of  incense  shall  cover  the  mercj-seat  that  is  over  the  testi- 
mony, that  he  die  not.  14.  And  he  shall  take  of  the  blood  of 
the  bullock,  and  spatter  with  his  finger  upon  the  mercy-seat 

was  employed  on  other  occasions ;  but  at  no  other  time  was  it  to  be 
taken  within  the  veil.  It  was  a  very  sacred  act  to  offer  incense,  and 
proper  only  to  the  priest  in  the  appointed  way  (See  Ex.  xxx.  9  ; 
Lev.  X.  1).  Fire  from  the  altar,  from  the  consecrated  hearth  of  God. 
Aiid  his  handsful,^-  the  full  of  the  palms  spread  out  and  curved  for 
the  purpose  of  holding.  Incense  of  sipices^"^  beaten  small.  Spices  of  a 
pleasant  smell  are  beaten  into  small  parts,  in  order  to  burn  the  better 
and  give  forth  their  scent  more  freely.  Bring  within  the  veil.  The 
peculiarity  here  is  that  on  this  occasion  only,  throughout  the  whole 
year,  the  high-priest  is  permitted  to  go  within  the  veil  into  the  imme- 
diate presence  of  God.  13.  The  incense.  This  is  the  very  highest 
and  purest  symbol  of  that  part  of  propitiation  which  is  called  inter- 
cession, and  therefore  of  prayer.  On  the  fire.  As  the  high-priest 
alone  went  in,  he  must  have  taken  in  the  censer  of  live  coals  and  the 
spices  himself.  By  putting  his  handsful  of  spices  into  a  tray  or 
basket,  it  was  possible  for  him  to  take  in  all  at  once.  lie  then  put 
the  incense  on  the  fire.  It  is  not  really  inconsistent  with  the  direc- 
tions, however,  that  he  should  have  put  the  incense  on  the  coals  even 
before  passing  within  the  veil.  The  putting  on  of  the  incense  is  then 
noticed  in  this  verse  simply  to  bring  it  into  immediate  connection 
with  its  intended  effect.  The  cloud  of  incense  shall  cover  the  mercy- 
seat.  This  is  the  effect.  The  covering  of  the  mercy-seat  with  the 
cloud  of  incense  is  at  the  same  time  the  covering  of  Aaron  himself 
by  the  propitiation  made  and  pleaded.  Over  the  testimony,  the  two 
tables  of  the  law  which  were  deposited  in  the  ark  (Ex.  xxv.  10). 
That  he  die  not,  being  sheltered  and  saved  by  the  propitiation  which 
stands  between  him  and  the  doom  of  death.  14.  He  shall  take  of  the 
Mood.  The  blood  alone  truly  expiates.  For  it  is  the  life  of  one 
given  for  another.     And  spatter  with  his  finger.     This  is  the  actual 


208  THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT. 

eastward,  and  before  the  mercy-seat  shall  he  spatter  seven 
times  of  the  blood  with  his  finger.  15.  And  he  shall  slay  the 
goat  of  the  sin-sacrifice  which  is  the  people's,  and  bring  its 
blood  within  the  veil ;  and  he  shall  do  with  its  blood  as  he  did 
with  the  blood  of  the  bullock,  and  spatter  it  on  the  mercy-seat 
and  before  the  mercy-seat.  16.  And  he  shall  atone  for  the 
holy  place  from  the  uncleanness  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  from 

offering  of  the  blood  to  the  Lord  and  application  of  it  to  the  penitent. 
The  Lord  accepts  the  death  of  the  substitute,  and  remits  the  death  of 
the  sinner  for  whom  he  has  died.  On  the  mercy-seat  eastward,  that  is, 
on  the  front  of  it.  This  appears  to  indicate  the  front  of  the  ark  and 
of  the  mercy-seat  over  it ;  the  two  constituting  one  whole.  The  blood 
is  then  spattered  seven  times  before,  that  is  on  the  ground  in  front  of, 
the  mercy-seat.  The  mercy-seat  is  here  the  altar  of  ultimate  resort. 
See  on  iv.  6.  The  seven  times  denote  a  perfect  application,  as  usual. 
This  finishes  the  priest's  offering  for  his  own  sin  within  the  veil.  The 
further  application  of  the  blood  will  be  subsequently  mentioned. 

15-19.  The  first  goat  of  the  sin-sacrifice  for  the  people.  15.  And 
he  shall  slay.  On  this  solemn  anniversary  the  high-priest  or  his  min- 
ister may  have  slain  the  victim  for  the  sin  of  the  congregation; 
though  the  text  does  not  make  this  interpretation  necessary.  Ex- 
perience of  the  style  of  this  book  teaches  us  that  we  may  supply  the 
suitable  subject  where  none  is  expressed,  even  though  the  following 
verb  require  a  different  one.  And  bring  its  blood  loithin  the  veil,  to 
be  applied  in  precisely  the  same  way  as  that  of  the  bullock.  16.  And. 
he  shall  atone.  A  peculiar  turn  is  now  given  to  the  mode  of  descrip- 
tion, quite  distinct  from  all  that  has  gone  before,  and  only  intelligible 
after  the  preceding  chapters  on  the  clean  and  the  unclean.  The 
atonement  now  made  is  for  the  people,  because  the  goat  that  has 
been  slain  is  part  of  their  sin-sacrifice.  But  in  another  aspect  of  it 
another  effect  is  produced.  Fur  the  holy  place.  The  holy  place  is  in 
this  verse  distinguished  from  the  tent  of  meeting.  Hence  we  learn 
that  in  this  context  it  means  the  holy  of  holies,  or  most  holy  place 
within  the  veil.  In  the  solemn  rite  performed  within  the  veil  with 
the  blood  of  the  bullock  and  of  the  goat  atonement  has  been  made  for 


LEVITICUS  XVI.  16.  209 

their  transgressions  in  all  their  sins ;  and  so  shall  he  do  to 
the  tent  of  meeting  that  dwelleth  with  them  amidst  their 
uncleanness.     17.  And  no  man  shall  be  in  the  tent  of  meeting 


the  most  holy  place.     This  has  been  actually  desecrated  by  the  im- 
perfect priesthood  and  people  among  whom  it  has  been  placed,  and 
needs  an  atonement.     From  the  uncleanness  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  the 
uncleanness  which  they  convey  to  that  which  abides  among  them. 
And  from  their  transgressions  in  all  their  sins.     The  uncleanness  was 
the  taint  of  sin.  "  Their  transgressions  "  points  to  the  guilt  of  sin.  The 
transgressions  occasion  the  uncleanness,  and  the  uncleanness  betrays 
the  transgression.     Where  sin  has  spread  its  demerit  and  defilement 
an  atonement  is  needed.     There  was  imperfection  and  impurity  in 
the  whole  body  of  the  people,  by  which  the  sanctuary  was  defiled. 
And  hence  it  appears  that  the  offering  of  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of 
lambs  would  have  been  a  labor  in  vain,  had  it  not  been  a  shadow  of 
a  really  perfect  sacrifice  and  an  all-sufficient  propitiation  that  was  to 
come.     To  atone,  then,  for  the  holy  place,  purging  it  by  the  blood  of 
a  sin-sacrifice  from  the  uncleanness  and  iniquity  of  the  whole  people, 
is  simply  another  way  of  expressing  an  atonement  for  the  high-priest 
and  his  house  and  the  whole  congregation  by  the  same  sin-sacrifice  and 
the  self-same  rite.     This  plainly  appears  from  a  comparison  of  vs.  11, 
14,  15,  and  16.     It  is  also  to  be  noted  in  this  pregnant  sentence  that 
the  contaminating  and  condemning  effects  of  sin  are  brought  together. 
This  is  in  keeping  with  a  day  of  repentance,  as  well  as  expiation,  and 
with  a  chapter  that  knits  together  the  treatises  on  propitiation  and 
purification.     And  so  shall  he  do  to  the  tent  of  meeting.     This  we  con- 
ceive must  mean,  as  the  rabbis  understand  it,  that  the  same  spattering 
of  blood  was  to  be  made  on  the  horns  of  the  golden  altar  and  before 
the  veil,  as  described  in  iv.  6,  7,  which  had  been  made  on  and  before 
the  mercy-seat.     The  tent  of  meeting,  as  distinguished  from  the  holy 
of  holies,  must  mean  the  apartment  without  the  veil,  where  were  the 
golden  candlestick,  the  table  of  show-bread,  and  the  altar  of  incense. 
If  the  most  holy  place  needed  atonement,  much  more  the  holy  place 
or  tent  of  meeting,  into  which  the  priest  entered  every  day.     That 
dwelleth  ^®  with  them  amidst  their  uncleanness.     The  moral  unclean- 
27 


210  THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT 

when  lie  gocth  in  to  atone  in  the  holy  place,  until  he  come 
out ;  and  he  shall  atone  for  himself  and  for  his  house  and  for 
all  the  congregation  of  Israel.  18.  And  he  shall  come  out 
unto  the  altar  that  is  before  the  Lord  and  atone  for  it ;  and 
shall  take  of  the  blood  of  the  bvillock  and  of  the  blood  of  the 
goat,  and  put  on  the  horns  of  the  altar  around.  19.  And  he 
shall  spatter  upon  it  of  the  blood  with  his  finger  seven  times, 

ness  is  sin  in  its  nature  and  contaminating  power,  which  has  been  so 
strikingly  illustrated  in  the  preceding  chapters.  Atonement  for  the 
contamination  which  it  conveys  to  all  around,  and  so  to  the  tent  of 
meeting,  as  well  as  the  holy  place.  17.  And  no  man  shall  be  in  the 
tent.  No  man  was  competent  to  take  part  in  making  atonement. 
For  all  had  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God ;  and  even  if 
not,  all  were  creatures,  and  therefore  dependent,  and  owing  all  to 
their  Creator.  Only  the  Holy  One,  of  whom  the  high-priest  is  in 
all  respects  the  divinely-appointed  type,  can  make  a  propitiation  for 
sin.  When  he  goeih  in  to  atone  in  the  holy  place.  The  high-priest 
alone,  of  course,  enters  the  holy  place  within  the  veil.  But  from  the 
preceding  words  it  appears  that  no  one  is  to  be  in  the  tent  of  meeting 
without  the  veil  during  the  time  of  making  atonement  within  the  veil. 
Until  he  come  out.  The  whole  period  is  very  carefully  marked  off,  as 
the  whole  work  is  to  be  completed  by  the  high-priest  alone.  18,  19.  He 
shall  come  out  unto  the  altar  that  is  before  the  Lord.  This  is  the  third 
application  of  the  atoning  blood.  The  court  of  the  tabernacle  is  in 
still  closer  contact  with  the  great  body  of  the  people,  who  enter  it  for 
the  purpose  of  sacrificial  worship.  The  altar  here  spoken  of  is  the 
altar  of  burnt-sacrifice,  as  is  plainly  indicated  by  his  coming  out  to  it. 
It  is  before  the  Lord,  as  it  is  before  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  where 
he  dwells.  And  atone  for  it.  Here,  for  the  third  time,  expiation  is 
to  be  made  by  putting  of  the  blood  of  the  bullock  and  the  goat  on  all 
the  horns  of  the  altar,  and  by  spattering  on  it  seven  times.  By  this 
means  the  court  which  has  its  centre  in  the  outermost  altar  is  expiated. 
In  this  way  there  was  a  threefold  sprinkling  in  a  twofold  mode  on 
the  day  of  atonement  —  at  the  mercy-seat  within  the  veil,  at  the  altar 
of  incense  without  the  veil,  and  on  the  altar  of  sacrifice  without  the 


LEVITICUS  XVI.  18-21.  211 

and  lie  shall  cleanse  it  and  hallow  it  from  the  uncleanness  of 
the  sons  of  Israel. 

20.  And  he  shall  make  an  end  of  atoning  for  the  holj  place 
and  for  the  tent  of  meeting  and  for  the  altar,  and  he  shall 
present  the  live  goat.  21.  And  Aaron  shall  lay  his  two  hands 
upon  the  head  of  the  live  goat,  and  shall  confess  over  it  all  the 
iniquities  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  all  their  transgressions  in 

curtain  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  The  last  is  the  place  of 
sacrifice  ;  the  intermediate,  the  place  of  intercession  ;  and  the  first  the 
place  of  fellowship.  The  twofold  mode  of  applying  the  blood  points 
to  a  twofold  need  of  expiation ;  the  spattering  of  the  blood  seven 
times,  like  the  sprinkling  of  it  round  the  altar,  refers  to  atonement 
directly  for  the  worshipper ;  the  spattering  of  it  once,  like  the  putting 
of  it  on  the  horns  of  the  altar,  appears  to  be  a  propitiation  for  the 
altar  itself,  that  it  may  avail  for  the  worshipper.  Hence  there  was 
propitiation  here,  not  only  for  the  priests  and  people,  but  also  for  the 
holy  things  which  they  had  defiled  by  their  sins.  He  shall  demise 
it  and  hallow  it.  As  a  good  deed  begets  gratitude  in  a  rightly  con- 
stituted heart,  so  expiation,  the  best  of  all  good  deeds,  begets  re- 
pentance and  all  the  kindred  affections  of  an  undeceived  spirit.  This 
state  of  mind  has  its  reflection  in  the  mirror  of  surrounding  things. 
And  hence  the  expiated  altar  is  cleansed  and  hallowed.  The  hal- 
lowing is  simply  the  exponent  of  the  cleansing.  As  the  altars  can 
have  no  guilt  or  impurity  in  themselves,  except  in  their  relation  with, 
guilty  man,  as  soon  as  the  repentant  worshipper  presents  the  sacrifice 
that  atones  for  his  sin,  the  altar  is  not  only  expiated,  but  hallowed. 

20-28.  The  scape-goat.  20.  And  he  shall  make  an  end.  One 
stage  of  this  day's  proceedings,  described  in  the  preceding  passage,  is 
to  be  brought  to  a  close  before  the  next  begins.  Atoning  for  the  holy 
place  and  for  the  tent  of  meeting  and  for  the  altar.  This  recapitula- 
tion shows  that  the  three  objects  mentioned  are  co-ordinate  in  this 
process  of  atonement.  Present  the  live  goat.  The  verb  here  is  that 
usually  rendered  offer.  Offering  does  not  necessarily  imply  the 
slaughter  of  that  which  is  offered.  21.  Lay  his  two  hands.  There 
is  emphasis  and  solemnity  in  laying  on  both  hands.     Confess  over  it, 


212  THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT. 

all  their  sins,  and  shall  put  them  upon  the  head  of  the  goat, 
and  send  it  away  by  the  liand  of  a  set  man  into  the  wilderness. 
22.  And  the  goat  shall  bear  upon  it  all  their  iniquities  to  a 
land  of  excision ;  and  he  shall  send  the  goat  into  the  wilder- 

as  the  victim  that  was  to  suffer  for  the  things  confessed,  and  take 
them  and  their  consequences  away  from  the  transgressor.  All  the 
iniquities^^  violations  of  law  demanding  expiation.  All  their  trans- 
gressions,^^ wrongs  done  to  others  demanding  redress.  These  two 
elements  concur  in  all  sins ;  sometimes  the  one  being  prominent, 
sometimes  the  other.  The  former  is  the  main  characteristic  of  sin. 
Put  them  upon  the  head  of,  impute  or  lay  them  to  the  account  of. 
And  send  it  away,  bearing  the  iniquity  of  the  whole  congregation.  A 
set  ^^  man,  a  man  ready  for  the  task  at  the  appointed  time.  Into  the 
wilderness,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  holy  community.  22.  Bear  upon 
it  all  their  iniquities.  This  is  correlative  to  the  phrase,  "  Hath  laid 
on  him  the  iniquity  of  all."  It  is  a  clear  case  of  imputation  and 
substitution.  To  a  land  of  excision,"^  a  land  of  excommunication, 
away  from  the  presence  and  view  of  the  judge.  This  live  goat  merely 
represents  the  one  self-same  victim  in  a  new  condition,  which  the  slain 
goat  was  no  longer  fitted  to  exhibit.  The  victim  after  death  is  gone 
to  the  place  of  banishment  from  God,  where  it  still  exists,  bearing 
the  perpetual  doom  of  sin.  This  serves  to  illustrate  the  wider 
meaning  of  death  in  Scripture,  which  is  not  annihilation,  but  a  state 
of  ill-fare,  in  contrast  with  life,  which  is  a  state  of  welfare,  not  termi- 
nated, but  only  fully  entered  upon,  at  the  separation  of  soul  and  body. 
As  the  animal  slain  and  consumed,  partly  on  the  altar  and  partly  on 
the  place  of  ashes,  could  not  represent  this  essential  element  of  penal 
death,  its  second  self  is  introduced  to  signalize  it  in  a  definite  and 
emphatic  manner.  But  another  aspect  of  saving  truth  is,  at  the  same 
time,  no  less  clearly  illustrated.  The  one  goat  represents  the  death 
of  the  substitute  for  the  expiation  of  sin;  the  other  sets  forth  the 
concurrent  removal  of  sin  from  the  object  of  the  divine  mercy  into 
the  land  of  forgetfulness,  so  that  it  can  never  come  into  remembrance 
against  him  any  more.  The  one  act  is  involved  in  the  other ;  but  it 
cannot  be  presented  fully  to  the  mind  in  a  figure  without  a  double 


LEVITICUS  XVI.  22-24.  213 

ness.  23.  And  Aaron  shall  go  into  the  tent  of  meeting,  and 
he  shall  strip  off  the  linen  clothes  which  he  put  on  when  he 
went  into  the  holy  place  and  leave  them  there.  24.  And  he 
shall  wash  his  flesh  with  water  in  a  holy  place  and  put  on  his 
garments ;  and  he  shall  come  forth  and  offer  his  burnt-sacrifice 
and  the  burnt-sacrifice  of  the  people,  and  atone  for  himself 

victim.  This  duplication  of  the  goat  for  a  sin-sacrifice  cannot  but 
remind  us  of  the  duplication  of  the  bird  in  the  case  of  the  healed  leper. 
There  is  a  marlied  difference  between  them.  The  latter  contains  an 
allusion  to  the  leper  reviving  from  the  mortal  disease,  and  exhibits 
propitiation  inseparably  associated  with  expiation.  The  slain  bird 
represents  the  death  of  the  substitute  because  he  bears  the  sin  of 
another ;  the  live  bird,  the  resurrection  of  the  substitute  because  he 
has  fulfilled  all  i-ighteousness.  The  two,  therefore,  combme  to  exhibit 
the  Redeemer  bearing  death  and  earning  life  for  the  sinner.  This 
involves  the  resurrection,  and  introduces  naturally  the  trespass -offering, 
of  which  it  is  a  striking  precursor.  The  goat,  in  the  former  case,  is 
a  sin-sacrifice,  and  its  duplication  merely  symbolizes  the  two  efiects 
of  the  sin-sacrifice  —  the  death  for  sin  and  the  coincident  removal  of 
the  penalty  forever  from  the  object  of  the  divine  forgiveness. 

23-25.  These  verses  give  the  occupation  of  Aaron,  while  the  set 
man  is  sending  off  the  scape-goat.  Shall  go  into  the  tent  of  meeting. 
Having  sent  away  this  man,  he  has  completed  the  sacrifice  for  sin, 
which  is  characteristic  of  this  day,  he  is  to  go  once  more  into  the  tent 
of  meeting.  It  is  probable,  as  the  rabbis  say,  that  he  now  brings 
away  the  censer  on  which  the  incense  was  burning.  But  this,  being 
a  matter  of  no  consequence,  is  not  mentioned,  and  the  return  into  the 
tabernacle,  if  merely  for  this  purpose,  would  probably  have  been  left 
unnoticed.  The  main  reason  for  this  return  is  that  which  is  stated 
in  the  text,  to  take  off  the  linen  garments,  and  put  on  the  splendid 
robes  of  the  high-priest.  This  act,  from  the  care  with  which  it  is 
stated,  is  shown  to  be  not  merely  incidental,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
highly  significant.  The  expiation  has  now  been  accomplished.  He 
who  has  made  it  was  all  through  perfect  in  holiness  and  righteousness, 
and  now  that  it  is  finished  is  entitled  on  the  ground  of  his  unblemished 


214  THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT. 

and  for  the  people.  25.  And  the  fat  of  the  sin-sacrifice  he 
shall  burn  upon  the  altar.  26.  And  he  tliat  sent  off  the  goat 
for  a  scape-goat  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  wash  his  flesh  with 
water  ;  and  afterwards  he  shall  come  into  the  camp.  27.  And 
the  bullock  for  sin  and  the  goat  for  sin,  whose  blood  was 
brought  in  to  atone  in  the  holy  place,  shall  one  carry  out  of 
the  camp  ;  and  they  shall  burn  with  fire  their  skins  and  their 
flesh  and  their  dung.     28.  And  he  that  burnetii  them  shall 

integrity  to  the  rewards  and  honors  of  jierfect  obedience.  He  is, 
therefore,  directed  to  assume  the  robes  of  the  just  and  holy  one. 
This  is  a  fitting  act  to  take  place  in  his  Father's  house.  Accordingly, 
he  is  to  enter,  strip  off  the  mitre,  girdle,  and  coat,  the  garb  of  lowli- 
ness and  destitution,  and  leave  them  there,  never,  the  rabbis  say,  to  be 
resumed ;  but  it  may  be  to  be  resumed  only  the  next  year.  24.  He 
shall  there  wash  his  flesh,  namely,  his  hands  and  feet,  with  water, 
thereby  cleansing  himself  from  the  ceremonial  uncleanness  of  the  sin- 
victim  ;  in  a  holy  place,  some  place  convenient  to  the  laver  appointed 
for  the  purpose,  and  put  on  his  state  garments,  and  come  forth,  no 
longer  as  the  lowly  sufferer,  but  as  the  exalted  mediator  of  the  new 
covenant.  He  is  now  to  offer  the  burnt-sacrifice  for  himself  and  for 
the  people.  And  atone  for  himself  and  for  the  people.  This  sacrifice 
denotes  propitiation  or  atonement  in  the  fullest  sense,  including  not 
only  the  bearing  of  the  penalty,  but  the  rendering  of  the  obedience 
for  those  who  are  rejaresented.  25.  The  fat  of  the  sin-sacrifice.  The 
burning  of  this  is  only  another  symbol  of  propitiation.  If  the  descrip- 
tion here  be  strictly  chronological,  the  fat  of  the  sin-sacrifice  is  burned 
on  the  altar  after  and  upon  the  burnt-sacrifice ;  a  hint  of  the  paramount 
importance  of  the  burnt-sacrifice.  26.  And  he  that  sent  off.  The  set 
man  who  has  led  away  the  goat  with  the  sins  of  the  peojjle  upon  it  is 
defiled  by  contact  with  the  bearer  of  sin,  and  is  to  make  the  cus- 
tomary ablutions  before  he  returns  into  the  camp.  27.  And  the 
hulloch  for  sin.  The  victims  for  sin,  inasmuch  as  their  blood  has 
been  brought  into  the  sanctuary  for  atonement  (Lev.  vi.  23),  are  to 
be  carried  without  the  camp  to  the  place  of  ashes,  and  there  consumed 
by  fire.     28.  And  he  that  hurneth  them,  being  thereby  defiled,  shall 


LEVITICUS  XVI.  28,  29.  215 

wash  his  clothes  and  wash  his  flesh  with  water,  and  afterwards 
he  shall  come  into  the  camp. 

29.  And  it  shall  be  unto  you  a  statute  forever :  in  the  seventh 
month,  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  month,  ye  shall  afflict  your 

make  the  usual  ablutions  before  returning  into  the  camp.  This  at 
length  completes  the  history  of  the  sacrifices  for  sin  on  this  unparal- 
leled day.  We  learn,  thus,  the  whole  of  that  which  is  implied  in  the 
sacrifice  for  sin.  The  prominent  point  is  expiation  for  sin,  denoted 
by  the  blood,  the  burning  of  the  body  in  the  place  of  ashes,  and  the 
exile  of  the  scape-goat.  The  blood  denotes  death,  the  penalty  of  sin 
or  disobedience  to  the  Author  of  our  being.  The  burning  denotes 
destruction,  or  the  defeat  of  all  the  proper  ends  of  being.  The  exile 
denotes  the  second  death,  or  the  experience  of  the  perpetual  sufferings 
of  a  just  doom.  "When  all  these  befall  the  substitute,  the  object  of  the 
divine  mercy  is  redeemed,  or  released  from  the  penalty  of  sin.  Less 
prominent  in  the  sin-sacrifice  is  propitiation,  the  necessary  con- 
comitant of  expiation,  which  is  indicated,  however,  by  the  burning  of 
the  fat  on  the  altar.  This  stands  in  the  background  in  the  present 
rite.  "We  can  now  estimate  the  striking  contrast  between  the  sin- 
sacrifice  and  the  trespass-offering.  The  former  is  the  sin-bearer  for 
another,  and  therefore  dies,  bears  the  destruction  of  all  the  hopes 
of  life,  and  enters  upon  the  experience  of  the  second  death,  shadow- 
ing forth  in  vivid  detail  the  equivalent  of  suffering  which  the  substitute 
has  to  bear.  The  latter  is  the  right-doer  for  another,  who  therefore, 
though  he  die  for  him,  yet  earns  and  rises  to  eternal  life  and  liberty, 
exhibiting  in  an  equally  striking  figure  the  resurrection  unto  life  of 
the  Mediator  who  has  died  and  lived  for  others.  Here  death  is 
necessary,  as  before  ;  but  it  falls  into  the  shade  behind  the  glory  of 
the  resurrection.  Expiation  must  precede ;  but  it  wanes  before  the 
surpassing  excellence  of  propitiation. 

29-34.  The  day  of  celebration  and  the  perpetuity  of  the  ordinance. 
29.  A  statute  forever,  lasting  as  long  as  the  present  economy  continues 
in  form,  and  throughout  all  generations  and  ages  in  principle.  "When 
the  substance  comes  the  shadows  will  flee  away.  In  the  seventh  month. 
According  to  Josephus  (Antiq.  i.  3,  3)  this  was  the  first  month  of  the 


216  THE  DAY  OF  ATONEJ^IENT. 

souls,  and  do  no  work,  the  home-born  and  the  stranger  that 
sojourneth  among  you.     30.  For  on  this  day  shall  he  atone 

year  in  the  order  of  the  calendar  existing  before  the  exodus  from 
Egypt  (Ex.  xii.  2),  and  of  the  civil  year  even  after  that  event.  The 
state  of  nature  described  in  Gen.  ii.  6,  the  numeration  of  the  month 
in  the  history  of  the  deluge  (Gen.  vii.  11)  and  the  out-going  and 
turn  of  the  year  (Ex.  xxiii.  16  ;  xxxiv.  22),  corroborate  this  tradition. 
As  the  sacred  year  began  exactly  six  months  after  the  other,  the  first 
month  of  the  civil  year  was  the  seventh  of  the  sacred  year.  The 
special  observances  connected  with  the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month 
favor  the  supposition  that  it  was  the  old  new  year's  day  of  Israel. 
On  the  tenth.  The  festival  of  the  atonement  is  naturally  suited  to  be 
the  initial  rite  of  a  new  life.  The  civil  year  of  the  holy  people  is 
consecrated  to  God,  and  this  ordinance  was  well  fitted  to  express  this 
thought.  "Why  the  tenth  day  was  selected  we  are  not  informed.  If 
the  fall  of  man  took  place  on  the  tenth  day  it  would  afford  an  adequate 
reason  for  fixing  on  this  day.  Those  who  mark  coincidences  will 
observe  that  the  paschal  lamb  was  set  apart  on  the  tenth  day  of  the 
first  month  (Ex.  xii.  3).  Ye  shall  afflict  your  souls.  The  soul  is 
pre-eminently  the  susceptible  part  of  man's  nature.  To  afflict  the 
soul  is  to  give  free  scope  to  the  convictions  of  sin  and  to  the  shame, 
sorrow,  and  indignation  which  it  awakens.  The  revelation  of  the 
mercy  of  God  in  the  gospel  of  the  Old  Testament  was  the  only  thing 
fitted  to  awaken  repentance  in  the  sensitive  conscience  of  the  sinner. 
This  gospel  of  promise  is  not  only  announced  in  words,  but  symbolized 
in  all  possible  forms  in  the  ceremonial  of  Leviticus.  The  more  clearly 
the  sinner  apprehends  the  mercy  of  God,  announced  in  this  manifold 
way,  the  more  keenly  will  he  feel  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin. 
And  the  more  fully  he  comprehends  that  God  has  provided  a  victim 
and  a  priest  to  satisfy  justice  in  order  that  he  might  be  at  liberty  to 
show  mercy,  the  more  deep  and  contrite  will  be  his  repentance 
towards  him.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Spirit  of  truth  in  the  un- 
affected simplicity  of  a  primeval  time  dwells  on  the  state  of  the  soul 
alone,  and  condescends  on  no  outward  manifestations  of  the  inward 
feeling.  The  rabbis  and  doctors  interpret  affliction  of  soui  by  fasting, 
because  such  was  the  formal  mode  in  their  day.     A  deep  sense  of 


LEVITICUS  X\^.  30,  31.  217 

for  jou  to  cleanse  you ;  from  all  your  sins  before  the  Lord  ye 
shall  be  cleansed.     81.  It  shall  be  a  sabbath  of  rest  iiiito  you, 

sorrow  for  sin  will  naturally  lead  to  abstinence  from  the  delicacies 
of  the  table  and  even  from  food  altogether  for  a  season.  But  it  is 
to  be  remembered  that  the  sorrow  of  the  heart  is  the  only  genuine 
repentance,  and  that  outward  fastings  and  other  forms  will  only  be  an 
abominable  hypocrisy  where  that  is  wanting.  And  do  no  work.  This 
was  to  be  a  strict  sabbath,  as  is  stated  in  vs.  31.  This  is  a  more 
genuine  and  trustworthy  effect  of  heart-sorrow  than  formal  fasting. 
The  home-born  and  the  stranger.  We  here  incidentally  learn  that 
the  sons  of  Israel  were  to  welcome  the  stranger  of  another  race  to 
their  home  and  to  their  God.  (See  Ex.  xii.  49.)  30.  For  on  this 
day,  shall  he  atone  for  you.  The  expiation  for  sin  was  to  be  made  on 
this  day  in  the  grandest  and  most  comprehensive  form.  To  cleanse 
you.  The  affliction  of  the  soul,  the  right  disposition  in  which  the 
worshipper  entered  upon  the  appointed  ordinance,  the  repentance, 
trust,  gratitude,  and  devotion  which  the  thought  of  its  import  called 
forth,  was  the  indication  of  a  cleansed  heart.  And  therefore,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  healed  leper,  the  priest  by  the  very  offering  of  the 
atoning  sacrifice  for  the  penitent  congregation  pronounced  them 
clean.  It  is  remarkable  that  no  symbol  of  purification  is  enjoined  on 
this  occasion,  because  the  reality  itself  is  enjoined  in  the  affliction  of 
soul  which  was  to  be  manifested  on  this  day.  Thus  the  day  of  atone- 
ment combined  purification  with  propitiation,  and  this  chapter  unites 
the  seven  chapters  on  sacrifice  to  the  five  on  cleansing  by  the  inter- 
vening three  on  the  priest.  From  all  your  sins  before  the  Lord. 
The  sins  of  his  own  people  are  in  a  peculiar  sense  before  the  Lord, 
because  they  dwell  in  his  presence,  and  the  light  of  his  countenance 
is  upon  them.  31.  A  sabbath  of  rest.  This  phrase  is  twice  applied 
to  the  day  of  atonement  (here  and  in  xxiii.  32),  and  once  to  the  sab- 
batical year  (xxv.  4),  but  elsewhere  only  to  the  weekly  sabbath.  It 
denotes  resting  from  all  work,  servile  or  other  than  servile.  The  day 
of  atonement  is  therefore  the  only  day  agreeing  with  the  weekly 
sabbath  in  entire  abstinence  from  work.  It  differs  from  it,  however, 
as  strikingly  in  being  a  day  of  affliction,  while  the  weekly  sabbath 
was  a  day  of  rejoicing.     The  fifty-two  sabbaths  of  gladness,  instituted 


218  THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT. 

and  ye  shall  afflict  your  souls ;  it  is  a  statute  forever.  32.  And 
the  priest,  whom  he  shall  anoint  and  whose  hand  he  shall 
fill  to  be  priest  in  his  father's  stead,  shall  atone ;  and  he  shall 
put  on  the  linen  garments,  the  garments  of  holiness.  33.  And 
he  shall  atone  for  the  holy  of  holies,  and  he  shall  atone  for  the 
tent  of  meeting  and  for  the  altar ;  and  he  shall  atone  for  the 

before  the  fall,  are  a  pleasing  indication  that  man  was  originally 
designed  for  holiness  and  happiness.  The  one  anniversary  sabbath 
of  penitence  is  an  humbling  token  of  his  fallen  state.  Te  shall  afflict 
your  souls.  The  text  of  the  divine  law  is  moderate  in  demanding 
only  the  one  day  of  humiliation  throughout  the  year.  Its  assertion 
of  the  fundamental  principles  of  moral  rectitude  and  announcement 
of  the  merciful  provision  of  an  atonement  were  alone  fitted  to  awaken 
this  feeling.  32.  T/ie  priest  whom  he  shall  anoint,  whom  the  proper 
party,  not  here  mentioned,  shall  anoint  and  consecrate  to  the  ofRce  of 
the  priesthood.  This  has  reference  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  statute 
for  the  day  of  atonement.  The  perpetuity  of  the  high-priesthood 
provides  for  the  perpetual  observance  of  the  ordinance.  He  shall  put 
on  the  linen  garments.  The  mention  of  this  regulation  here  shows 
the  deep  significance  of  it.  The  high-priest  is  to  be  afilicted  in  the 
afiiiction  of  his  people.  But  above  all  he  is  to  be  the  sin-bearer,  and 
as  such  to  make  himself  of  no  reputation,  to  be  numbered  with  the 
transgressors,  and  pour  out  his  soul  unto  death  in  the  form  of  the 
victim.  The  garments  of  holiness.  Amidst  all  his  humiliation  and 
debasement  it  is  never  to  be  forgotton  that  he  is  holy  and  without 
blemish,  and  pre-eminently  so  in  that  act  in  which  he  bare  the  sins 
of  many.  ^i^.  Atone  for  the  holy  of  holies.  These  figures  of  the  true 
holy  places  are  all  defiled  with  sin,  for  they  came  from  the  hands  of 
man,  and  are  in  daily  contact  with  human  things.  Hence  they  need 
the  great  and  true  and  only  propitiation  to  atone  for  them.  And  for 
the  priests  and  for  all  the  people.  Not  only  the  holy  places,  but  the 
priests  themselves  need  atonement,  since  they  are  but  men  of  like 
passions  and  infirmities  with  all  their  fallen  race.  They  cannot  then 
be  the  real  mediators.  Along  with  the  priests,  as  it  is  put  here, 
atonement  is  made  for  the  people ;  and  the  self-same  victims  that 


LEVITICUS  XVI.  32-34.  219 

priests  and  for  all  the  people  of  the  congregation.  34.  And 
this  shall  be  to  you  a  statute  forever,  to  atone  for  the  sons  of 
Israel  from  all  their  sins  once  a  year.  And  he  did  as  the 
Lord  commanded  Moses. 


atone  for  priest  and  people  in  the  very  same  act  atone  for  the  holy 
places.  Atonement  for  the  one  is  atonement  for  the  other.  34.  A 
statute  forever.  For  the  third  time  this  is  repeated  in  order  to  impress 
upon  priest  and  people  the  necessity  of  the  perpetual  celebration  of 
this  anniversary  ordinance.  To  atone  for  the  sons  of  Israel  from  all 
their  si7is.  Atonement  is  one  thing  needful  for  salvation ;  affliction 
of  soul  is  another ;  the  mercy  of  God  is  the  third,  or  rather  the  first, 
from  which  the  others  flow.  Atonement  is  the  theme  of  this  chapter 
from  first  to  last.  Once  a  year.  It  is  thus  at  one  and  the  same  time 
a  type  of  the  one  all-sufficient  atonement  and  by  its  annual  recurrence 
a  witness  to  its  own  intrinsic  inefficacy.  And  he  did.  Aaron  did  as 
the  Lord  commanded  Moses,  by  abstaining  from  entering  the  holy  of 
holies  within  the  vail  in  tlie  intervening  time  between  one  tenth 
of  the  seventh  month  and  another,  and  of  course,  when  the  set  time 
came  by  entering  in  the  prescribed  manner.  The  compliance  with 
the  negative  part  of  the  command  is  all  that  is  to  be  done  at  present. 
This  completes  the  third  section  and  the  first  part  of  the  Book  of 
Leviticus.  In  this  sole  anniversary  of  humiliation  and  soul-affliction 
the  prominent  part  of  atonement  is  expiation,  and  the  leading  sacrifice 
is  that  of  the  victim  for  sin.  This  is  quite  in  accordance  with  a  day 
in  which  the  guilt  of  sin  as  an  oflPence  against  holiness  is  brought  to 
remembrance.  The  profound  significance  of  the  sin-sacrifice  is  here 
brought  to  light  by  expanding  the  ordinance  into  an  elaborate  detail, 
and  by  reduplicating  the  victim  in  order  to  give  a  complete  analysis 
of  its  effect.  Hence  we  are  made  to  see  with  our  eyes  that  death 
taketh  away  sin.  Sin  is  on  this  day  the  burden  of  the  afflicted  soul ; 
the  taking  away  of  sin  the  relief  given  by  the  main  victim  of  the  day. 
But  while  the  special  nature  and  effect  of  the  sin-sacrifice  is  thus 
made  conspicuous,  it  is  incidentally  taught  that  expiation  is  never 
parted  from  propitiation.  The  fat  of  the  sin-victim  is  burned  upon 
the  altar;   this  is  always  a  symbol  of  propitiation.     The  expiatory 


220  THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT. 

nature  of  the  sin-sacrifice  is  further  iutlicated  by  the  severe  simplicity 
of  the  priestly  dress  on  this  occasion.  This  is  quite  in  harmony  with 
the  endurance  of  the  penal  consequences  of  sin,  but  not  with  receiving 
the  honorable  rewards  of  obedience.  The  day  is  not  closed  however, 
without  assigning  its  due  place  to  the  propitiatory  sacrifice.  After 
the  expiation  has  been  made,  with  all  solemnity  of  form,  the  priest 
resumes  his  robes  of  state  and  offers  the  burnt  sacrifice  for  himself 
and  the  people.  This  is  the  symbol  of  the  great  propitiation,  by, 
which  the  penitent  worshipper  is  not  only  delivered  from  the  wrath 
to  come,  but  restored  to  the  grace  and  glory  of  the  eternal  inheritance. 
This  chapter  fitly  closes  the  present  section.  It  speaks  of  uncleanness, 
the  uncleanness  of  the  congregation  of  Israel,  the  uncleanness  of 
which  that  of  the  beast  of  the  field,  the  woman  that  has  borne  a  child, 
the  leper,  or  the  patient  that  has  an  issue,  is  only  a  figure.  It  enjoins, 
in  the  presence  of  the  only  constraining  motives,  the  obligation  of  the 
moral  law  and  the  expiation  provided  for  sin,  affliction  of  soul,  expres- 
sive of  humble  and  confiding  repentance  toward  God,  which  is  the 
removal  of  the  moral  disease  and  the  return  of  spiritual  health.  And 
it  thereupon  prescribes  the  appropriate  offerings  for  priest  and  people 
on  their  recovery  from  the  malady  of  the  will  and  their  restoration  to 
the  cleanness  of  the  heart.  And  in  the  offering  of  these  sacrifices  the 
high-priest  is  authorized  to  pronounce  them  clean.  This  is  the  top- 
stone  to  the  doctrine  of  the  clean  and  the  unclean.  The  present 
section  unites  the  first  sixteen  chapters  into  a  compact  whole.  In  it 
we  have  uncleanness  involving  guilt.  While  we  have  the  agent  of  all 
spiritual  cleansing  plainly  indicated  in  the  oil  and  the  water,  we  have 
also  the  means  of  all  atonement  for  sin  brought  forward  in  the  priest 
discerning  the  disease,  recognizing  the  recovery,  and  offering  the 
sacrifices  which  make  atonement.  The  priest  and  the  victim  are  one 
mediator.  The  water  and  the  oil  are  one  sanctifier.  And  above  all 
is  the  one  God  of  mercy  and  Father  of  all,  the  great  Forgiver,  from 
whom  come  the  Redeemer  and  the  Regenerator.  These  sixteen 
chapters,  with  their  seventeen  or  eighteen  divine  communications,  are 
made  really  one  by  the  marvellous  combining  power  of  their  inspired 
compiler. 


LEVITICUS  XVI.  221 


2,  Mercy-seat,  n'l'QS,  VkaaTripiov,  propitiatorium. 

8.  Scape-goat,  ^.I^t:?,  obviously,  goat  departing,  going  away:  Sept., 
aTTOTTo/A-atos,  ets  r-r]v  6.7roTTOfji.7rrjv  V.  10,  ets  a({>e(nv  V.  26  :  Tulg.  caper 
emissarius  ;  Mishna,  Tj^nt"^  ^""^a  ;  Joseph.  aTroTpoTriaa-fios.  All  these 
explanations  have  the  advantages  of  simplicity  and  consistency.  They 
suggest  two  ideas,  that  the  goat  is  sent  away,  emissarius,  and  that  it 
bears  sin  away,  aTrorpoTnaa-fio^.  These  harmonize  with  the  whole 
text.  The  former,  however,  is  the  prominent  idea  in  the  name.  In 
proceeding  to  investigate  the  meaning  of  a  term  occurring  only  four 
times,  and  all  in  the  one  context,  we  must  abide  by  the  principle  that  it 
must  be  something  simple  and  obvious  to  the  minds  of  the  people. 
This  excludes  from  consideration  all  interpretations  that  have  their 
rise  in  a  vain  philosophy  and  a  still  more  delusive  mythology.  Azazel 
cannot  be  a  place,  because  this  would  be  no  proper  contrast  to  the 
Lord  in  v.  8,  and  moreover  tins'nsin  in  v.  10,  sufficiently  indicates  the 
place.  It  cannot  mean  the  devil  or  any  evil  demon,  because  we  have 
not  the  slightest  hint  of  such  a  meaning  in  the  text,  nor  even  in  the 
Sept.  or  Josephus  ;  and  surmises  of  such  a  meaning  in  the  later  writ- 
ings, such  as  the  book  of  Enoch,  and  the  Rabbinical,  Patristic,  and 
Mahometan  literature  are  mere  subjective  fancies,  on  which  the  inter- 
preter cannot  lay  any  stress.  Besides  the  goat  is  placed  before  the 
Lord  to  atone  upon  it,  and  this  is  quite  at  variance  with  being  after- 
wards sent  to  an  evil  spirit.  The  only  other  meaning  is  the  scape- 
goat, and  this  alone  is  suitable.  Patrick  saw  no  objection  to  this 
rendering  but  the  one,  that  T3  is  feminine.  But  this  objection  does 
not  hold,  as  the  word  is  properly  masculine  (Lev.  iii.  12 ;  xxii.  27), 
though  inclusive  of  the  feminine. 

10.  To  atone  upon  it,  ''ibs  ^32^.  This  usually  means  to  atone  for 
him  or  it.  But  the  passage  quoted  in  the  text  clearly  shows  it  is 
capable  of  the  other  meaning.  And  "to  atone  for  it"  cannot  be 
applied  to  the  goat,  but  only  to  the  people,  an  antecedent  so  remote  as 
to  seem  harsh,  though  it  gives  the  meaning  of  the  passage. 

12.  Ilandsful,  D'jSBn  H'^p.  The  full  of  the  gowpens  in  old  English 
phrase.  The  word  occurs  six  times.  Spices,  ts-^BG,  aromatic  plants 
scenting  the  air. 


222  TPIE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT. 

1 6.  Abiding,  "jsia.  From  this  is  formed  the  Rabbhiic  term  rti^S'iJ  ex- 
pressing the  glory  of  the  Lord  dwelling  above  the  mercy-seat  in  the 
holy  of  holies. 

21.  Iniquities,  ri^^,  avofxtas.  Transgressions,  D^^^ra,  dStKtas.  set, 
1F15J ,  timely,  provided  for  the  occasion :  crot/Aos. 

22.  Excision,  n!J^?*,  cutting  off;  aySaros,  a  land  from  which  there  is 
no  return. 


SECTION  lY.— RULES  CONCERNING  CIVIL  MATTERS. 

XVn.    CONCERNING  ANIMAL  FOOD. 

XYII.  1.  And  the  Lokd  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  Speak 
unto  Aaron  and  to  his  sons  and  to  all  the  sons  of  Israel,  and 
say  unto  them,  This  is  the  thing  which  the  Lord  hath  com- 
manded, saying,  3.  Any  man  of  the  house  of  Israel  that  slay- 
etli  an  ox  or  sheen  or  poat  in  the  camp,  or  that  slayeth  it  out- 

The  following  eleven  chapters  form  the  second  part  of  Leviticus. 
As  the  former  part  relates  to  the  birth  of  the  nation  as  a  spiritual 
.commonwealth,  so  the  present  part  relates  to  the  progress  of  their 
social  life  as  the  people  of  God.  Four  chapters  treat  of  civil  affairs ; 
four,  of  religious ;  and  the  remaining  three  of  matters  having  both  a 
civil  and  a  religious  bearing.  The  present  section  includes  the  first 
four  chapters,  which  refer  to  animal  food,  chastity,  holiness,  and  the 
penalties  by  which  many  of  the  preceding  regulations  are  to  be  en- 
forced. The  seventeenth  chapter  relates  to  animal  food,  and  regulates 
the  slaughter  of  oxen  and  small  cattle  (1-7)  and  the  use  to  be  made 
of  blood  (8-1 G).  It  is  addressed  to  Moses,  by  whom  it  is  to  be  com- 
municated to  the  priests  and  to  all  Israel. 

1-7.  Oxen  and  small  cattle  to  be  slain  only  at  the  altar.  1,  2.  The 
minute,  circumstantial  details  of  these  introductory  verses  are  quite 
suitable  and  requisite  in  documents  that  are  historical  and  legal.  The 
commands  received  from  the  Lord  must  be  duly  attested.  3.  Any 
man  of  the  house  of  Israel.  This  is  expressly  limited  to  the  house 
of  Israel.  In  the  camp.  The  definition  in  the  camp,  or  outside  the 
camp,  limits  this  regulation  in  its  present  form  still  further  to  the 
temporary  arrangements  of  the  wilderness,  while  the  people  were  in 
camp,  a  state  of  things  which  might  have  terminated  in  another  year. 

223 


224  CONCEKNIXG  ANIMAL  FOOD. 

side  of  the  camp,  4.  And  bringeth  it  not  to  the  door  of  the 
tent  of  meeting  to  make  an  offering  to  the  Lord  before  the 
tabernacle  of  the  Lord,  blood  shall  be  counted  to  that  man  ; 
he  hath  shed  blood  ;  and  that  man  shall  be  cut  off  from  among 
his  people  :  5.  To  the  end  that  the  sons  of  Israel  may  bring 
their  sacrifices  which  they  are  making  in  the  open  field,  and 
bring  them  to  the  Lord  to  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting 
unto  the  priest,  and  offer  them  as  sacrifices  of  peace  unto  the 
Lord.  6.  And  the  priest  shall  sprinkle  the  blood  upon  the 
altar  of  the  Lord  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting,  and  burn 

4.  And  bringeth  it  not.  The  slaying  of  these  animals  is  not  forbidden. 
Only,  so  long  as  they  are  in  the  wilderness,  it  is  to  be  performed  at 
the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting.  To  make  an  offering.  This  seems 
to  imply  that  no  animal  was  to  be  slain  for  food  without  presenting 
an  offering  to  the  Lord.  But,  from  what  follows,  it  may  simply  apply 
to  the  slaying  of  animals  of  which  it  was  the  custom  of  the  people  to 
make  some  part  an  offering.  It  is  not  improbable  that  this  was  the 
general  custom,  which  had  grown  up  among  them  in  Egypt.  It  was 
not  the  custom,  however,  of  their  ancestors.  Abram  had  a  calf  killed 
and  dressed  to  entertain  his  guests  (Gen.  xviii.  7)  without  any  trace 
of  such  a  custom.  Blood  shall  he  counted  to  that  man.  This  favors 
the  view  that  slaying  for  sacrifice  in  an  unlawful  way  is  the  thing 
here  forbidden.  The  blood  which  is  set  apart  for  atonement,  and  so 
for  deliverance  from  death,  avails  for  man's  life.  To  misapply  it,  or 
apply  it  in  an  unlawful  way  or  to  an  idolatrous  purpose,  is  to  destroy 
life,  and  thus  to  shed  blood.  Hence  it  is  said  he  hath  shed  blood,  which 
is  the  life  of  man,  as  it  should  have  served  for  expiation.  Hence  this 
man  is  to  be  excommunicated.  5.  7h  the  end.  The  end  of  the  prohi- 
bition is  here  stated.  The  sons  of  Israel  are  in  the  habit  of  making 
their  sacrifices  in  the  open  field.  Before  the  setting  up  of  a  national 
altar  this  was  allowable,  provided  the  offerings  were  made  to  the  true 
God.  But  now  their  sacrifices  are  to  be  brought  to  the  door  of  tha 
tent  of  meeting,  and  presented  as  sacrifices  of  peace  unto  the  Lord. 
This,  also,  leans  to  the  idea  that  the  slaying  for  sacrifice  elsewhere  is 


LEVITICUS  XVII.  7,  8.  225 

the  fat  for  a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord.  7.  And  they  shall  no 
more  offer  their  sacrifices  to  the  he-goats,  after  whom  they  lust. 
This  shall  be  a  statute  for  ever  unto  them  for  their  generations. 
8.  And  thou  shalt  say  unto  them,  any  man  of  the  house 
of  Israel  or  of  the  strangers  that  sojourn  among  you,  who 
offereth  a  burnt-sacrifice  or  a  sacrifice,     9.  And  bringeth  it 

here  forbidden.  7.  "When  they  are  offered  as  peace-sacrifices,  the 
blood  is  sprinkled  on  the  altar,  and  the  fat  is  burned  for  a  sweet 
smell,  and  the  rest  is  at  the  disposal  of  the  owner.  In  the  ordinary 
sacrifice  of  peace,  the  wave-breast  and  the  heave-leg  (Lev.  vii.  34) 
were  assigned  to  the  priests.  The  altar  of  the  Lord  is  contrasted  with 
any  other  place,  and  also  with  the  altar  of  any  false  god.  7.  The 
further  end  of  the  prohibition  appears  in  this  verse.  Some  of  the 
people  were  privately  sacrificing  to  false  gods.  7.  The  he-goats.  They 
had  contracted  this  habit  in  Egypt,  where  the  goat  was  an  object  of 
worship  (Joseph,  cent.  Ap.  27).  It  was  called  Mendes,  corresponding 
to  Pan,  was  reckoned  among  the  eight  principal  gods,  and  was  wor- 
shipped in  Lower  Egypt,  particularly  in  the  Mendesian  Nome,  which 
was  not  far  from  Goshen.  The  Israelties  were  therefore  acquainted 
with  this  form  of  idolatry.  After  which  they  lust.  The  breach  of  the 
seventh  commandment  is  the  standing  figure  for  idolatry,  as  lawful 
wedlock  is  the  favorite  emblem  of  the  worship  of  the  true  God.  The 
prohibition,  then,  is  designed  to  counteract  the  false  training  of  Egypt. 
A  statute  forever.  To  offer  sacrifice  no  more  to  idols  of  any  kind  is  a 
perpetual  statute.  The  mode  in  which  animal  food  is  to  be  lawfully 
used  will  vary  with  the  circumstances  of  the  people  (See  Deut.  xii.). 

8-16.  Regulations  concerning  other  sacrifice  and  concerning  blood. 
And  thou  shalt  say  unto  them.  This  is  the  second  part  of  this  message. 
It  begins  with  a  similar  prohibition  to  offer  either  burnt-sacrifice  or 
peace-offering  anywhere  but  at  the  altar  of  God,  under  pain  of  excom- 
munication. This  is  directed  against  any  sacrifice  to  the  true  God 
being  offered  elsewhere  than  at  the  national  altar  ;  whereas  the  former 
prohibition  was  mainly  against  sacrificing  to  false  gods.  This  regula- 
tion also,  extends  not  only  to  Israel,  but  to  the  stranger  who  sojourns 
with  him,  and  becomes  a  proselyte  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God. 


226  CONCERNING  iVNIMAL  FOOD, 

not  unto  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting  to  offer  it  unto  the 
Lord,  even  that  man  shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people.  10.  And 
any  man  of  the  house  of  Israel,  or  of  the  strangers  that  sojourn 
among  them,  who  eateth  any  blood,  I  will  even  set  my  face 
against  the  soul  that  eateth  the  blood,  and  will  cut  him  off 
from  among  his  people.  11.  For  the  soul  of  the  flesh  is  in 
the  blood,  and  I  have  given  it  to  you  upon  the  altar  to  atone 

Strangers  who  were  still  aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel  do  not 
come  under  its  regulations,  and  hence  they  are  not  included  in  the 
former  prohibition  which  was  only  for  those  who  professed  to  have 
forsaken  idolatry.  10.  Then  follows  the  vehement  denunciation  of 
the  Israelite  or  the  proselyte  that  eats  blood.  The  eating  of  blood 
was  forbidden  as  early  as  the  days  of  Noah  (Gen.  ix.  4).  It  is  re- 
peated in  Lev.  vii.  26,  27.  It  is  here  in  place  among  a  series  of  regu- 
lations concerning  food,  I  will  even  set  my  face,  oppose  and  reject. 
Against  the  soul,  the  voluntary  agent,  who  is  susceptible  of  pleasure 
as  well  as  of  pain.  The  term  appears  to  be  used  here  on  purpose  in 
contrast  with  the  soul  or  vital  principle  of  the  animal.  Cut  him  off, 
by  the  act  of  the  lawful  authorities  or  by  a  special  visitation.  11.  The 
reason  of  this  stern  prohibition  is  now  given.  The  soul  of  the  flesh  is 
in  the  blood.  The  soul  is  the  vital  principle  that  has  desire,  will,  and 
activity  as  its  prominent  qualities,  which  corresponds  witli  the  will 
and  its  kindred  powers  in  the  human  soul.  In  this  department  of  the 
human  spirit  lies  the  moral  faculty,  by  which  it  is  capable  of  obedience 
or  disobedience  and  conscious  of  right  and  wrong.  The  soul  of  the 
flesh  is  that  which  gives  life  to  the  flesh.  This  is  said  to  be  in  the 
blood,  because  it  is  so  intimately  connected  with  the  circulating  blood 
that  it  leaves  the  flesh  or  the  body  and  ceases  to  animate  it  whenever 
the  blood  is  shed.  This  is  the  preliminary  foct  establishing  the  essen- 
tial connection  of  the  blood  with  the  soul.  On  this  rests  the  mystical 
or  moral  fact  conveyed  in  the  words,  "  I  have  given  it  to  you  upon  the 
altar  to  atone  for  your  souls."  This  fact  is  called  mystical  because  it 
springs  from  the  purpose  and  exists  in  the  determination  of  God  that 
so  it  should  be.  And  it  is  moral,  inasmuch  as  the  soul  of  the  victim 
is  given  for  the  soul  of  the  redeemed.     This  is  the  principle  of  sub- 


LEVITICUS  XVII.  11-15.  007 

for  your  souls  ;  for  it  is  the  blood  that  atoneth  for  the  soul. 

12.  Therefore  I  have  said  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  No  soul  of 
you  shall  eat  blood,  nor  shall  the  stranger  that  sojourneth 
among  you  eat  blood.  13.  And  any  man  of  the  sons  of  Israel 
or  of  the  strangers  that  sojourn  among  you  who  hunteth  any 
beast  or  fowl  that  may  be  eaten,  he  shall  pour  out  its  blood 
and  cover  it  with  dust.  14.  For  in  the  soul  of  all  flesh,  its 
blood  is  in  its  soul ;  and  I  said  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  ye  shall 
not  eat  the  blood  of  any  flesh ;  for  the  soul  of  all  flesh  is  its 
blood :  all  that  eat  of  it  shall  be  cut  off.  15.  And  every  soul 
that  eateth  a  dead  or  a  torn  body,  be  he  home-born  or  stranger, 
he  shall  wash  his  clothes  and  wash  in  water  and  be  unclean 
until  the  even :  then  shall  he  be  clean.  16.  And  if  he  wash 
them  not,  nor  wash  his  flesh,  then  he  shall  bear  his  iniquity.    ^ 

stitution,  which  lies  at  the  root  of  the  scheme  of  salvation  revealed  in 
the  book  of  God.  The  soul  of  the  victim  is  in  the  blood.  The  blood 
is  therefore  to  be  scrupulously  withdrawn  from  any  unworthy  or  in- 
ferior use.  "We  see  here  the  close  relationship  between  the  repre- 
sentative and  the  represented.  The  soul  of  man  is  the  spirit  regarded 
as  the  seat  of  desire,  of  will,  and  therefore  of  conscience.  The  soul 
of  the  brute  is  pre-eminently  the  seat  of  appetite  and  will.  The  will 
is  that  part  of  the  vital  principle  which  is  most  closely  connected  with 
the  blood.  Hence  the  blood  is  the  life  "  which  atoneth  for  the  soul " 
of  man.     12.  Hence  the  prohibition,  "  no  soul  of  you  shall  eat  blood." 

13.  Who  hunteth  any  beast  or  fowl.  The  blood  of  any  animal  that 
may  be  eaten,  but  cannot  be  offered  in  sacrifice,  is  to  be  poured  on 
the  ground  and  covered  with  dust.  14.  For  in  the  soul  of  all  fiesh. 
The  reason  assigned  for  this  is  the  universality  of  the  fact  that  the 
blood  is  in  the  soul  of  all  flesh.  The  phrase  is  remarkable.  The 
blood  is  so  intimately  connected  with  the  soul,  that  the  removal  of  the 
blood  is  the  removal  of  the  soul  from  the  flesh.  15.  Eateth  a  dead  or 
a  torn  body.  That  which  has  died  of  itself  or  is  torn  by  wild  beasts 
is  not  to  be  eaten,  because  the  blood  has  not  been  properly  drained 
from  it,  and  it  is  defiling.     He  that  partakes  of  it  unwittingly  is  to 


228  ON  CHASTITY. 

wash  his  clothes,  wash  himself  with  water,  and  be  unclean  until  the 
evening.  If  he  do  not,  he  shall  bear  his  iniquity.  According  to 
Ex.  xxii.  30,  that  which  was  toi-n  was  to  be  cast  to  the  dogs. 

The  deep  import  of  the  law  concerning  blood  here  comes  out  in  all 
its  force.  It  is  not  merely  that  the  soul  or  the  life  is  in  the  blood, 
but  that  in  consequence  of  this  natural  connection  the  blood  has  been 
given  of  God  to  atone  for  him  whose  life  is  forfeited  through  sin. 
But  even  the  blood  of  the  inferior  animal  is  only  a  type  of  that  blood 
which  expiates  the  guilt  of  sin,  and  the  contemplation  of  which  by 
intelligent  faith  cleanses  from  its  defilement.  Only  the  blood  of  a 
Mediator,  who  is  not  only  human  but  divine,  can  outweigh  in  intrinsic 
value  the  whole  human  race,  and  afford  an  all-sufficient  atonement. 

NOTE. 

7.  He-goats,  D'H^Sto ,  hairy  creatures  ;  juaraioi,  vanities,  idols. 

TVm.    ON  CHASTITY. 

After  purity  of  diet  comes  purity  of  sexual  intercourse,  which  is 
regulated  in  the  present  chapter.  It  contains  an  admonition  to  avoid 
the  evil  customs  of  other  nations  (1-5),  a  statute  determining  the 
degrees  of  kindred  that  are  too  near  for  chaste  wedlock  (6-17),  a  pro- 
hibition of  other  kinds  of  incest  (18-23),  and  a  warning  to  beware  of 
defilin"^  the  land  which  was  to  be  given  to  them  as  their  predecessors 
had  done  (24-30).  The  revelation  which  it  makes  is  addressed  to 
Moses,  who  is  to  communicate  it  to  the  people  whom  it  concerns.  In 
this  and  the  following  two  chapters  frequent  reference  is  made  to  the 
land  in  which  the  people  were  about  to  be  settled. 

1-5.  An  admonition  to  avoid  the  vile  customs  of  other  nations. 
2.  lam  the  Lord  your  God  ;  a  sentence  of  never-to-be-forgotten  signifi- 
cance. The  Lord,  Jehovah,  the  Self-existent,  the  Author  of  all  existing 
things,  the  Performer  of  promise,  is  entitled  by  the  very  highest  right 
to  command.  Tour  God.  Here  the  word  "  your "  is  emphatic.  It 
implies  two  things  of  the  utmost  personal  interest  to  those  addressed : 
first,  the  Lord  had  chosen  them  to  be  his  people,  and  second,  being 
moved  by  the  word  and  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  they  had  chosen 
him  to  be  their  God.     God  is  here  the  only  living  Almighty,  in  con- 


LEVITICUS  XVIII.  1-5.  229 

XVIII.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  Speak 
unto  the  sons  of  Israel  and  say  unto  them,  I  am  the  Lord  your 
God.  3.  After  the  doing  of  the  land  of  Mizraim,  wherein  ye 
dwelt,  shall  ye  not  do ;  and  after  the  doing  of  the  land  of 
Kenaan,  whither  I  bring  you,  shall  ye  not  do,  nor  walk  in 
their  statutes.  4.  My  judgments  ye  shall  do  and  my  statutes 
ye  shall  keep,  to  walk  in  them  :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 
5.  And  ye  shall  keep  my  statutes  and  my  judgments;  which 
the  man  that  doeth  shall  live  in  them :  I  am  the  Lord.      § 


trast  with  all  that  falsely  claim  or  receive  the  title.  It  is  necessary  to 
bring  these  sublime  and  solemnizing  thoughts  before  the  minds  of  this 
new-born  people,  when  it  is  proposed  to  wean  them  from  the  weak 
and  beggarly  elements  on  which  they  have  been  tempted  in  the  past 
or  may  be  enticed  in  the  future  to  rely.  3.  The  doing  of  the  land  of 
Mizraim.  The  people  have  to  beware  of  a  twofold  evil,  that  of  han- 
kering after  the  corrupt  customs  of  Egypt,  which  they  have  just  left 
behind,  and  that  of  falling  into  the  equally  vile  practices  of  the  land 
of  Kenaan,  to  which  they  are  advancing.  The  iniquity  of  the  Amo- 
rites  was  now  full,  after  a  growth  of  four  hundred  years.  Whither  I 
bring  you,  not  to  follow  their  example,  but  to  be  the  instrument  of 
their  extirpation  from  the  land.  4.  My  judgments,  judicial  sentences, 
affirming  the  duty  of  the  people,  and  usually  accompanied  with  an  in- 
timation of  the  good  or  evil  consequent  upon  compliance  or  non-com- 
pliance. My.  in  contrast  with  those  of  the  surrounding  nations  and 
their  false  gods.  My  statutes,  edicts  or  decrees,  established  and  pub- 
lished as  customs  or  institutions  of  the  people  of  God.  To  walk  in 
them,  make  them  the  constant  ruling  motive  of  your  conduct.  I  am 
the  Lord  your  God.  When  we  consider  the  transition  from  bondage 
to  liberty,  from  compulsion  to  responsibility,  from  promise  to  posses- 
sion, through  which  this  infant  people  were  now  passing,  we  begin  to 
understand  the  frequent  reiteration  of  the  absolute  supremacy  of  the 
true  God,  and  of  the  covenant  of  grace  and  peace  subsisting  between 
him  and  them.  It  needed  all  the  strength  of  faith  to  realize  the 
peculiar  relation  in  which  they  stood,  and  to  resist  old  and  new 
temptations.     5.    Which  the  man  that  doeth  shall  live  in  them.     The 


230  ON  CHASTITY. 

6.  No  man  of  you  shall  approach  unto  any  one  near  of  kin 
to  him  to  uncover  the  nakedness :  I  am  the  Lord.  §  7.  The 
nakedness  of  thy  father  or  the  nakedness  of  thy  mother  thou 
shalt  not  uncover :  she  is  thy  mother ;  thou  shalt  not  uncover 
her  nakedness.  §  8.  The  nakedness  of  thy  father's  wife  thou 
shalt  not  uncover  :   it  is  thy  father's  nakedness.     §     9.  The 

law  says,  Do  this  and  thou  shalt  live.  Eternal  life  is  the  reward  of 
perfect  obedience.  But  all  men  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the 
glory  of  God.  The  statutes  and  judgments,  however,  to  which  the 
men  of  Israel  are  here  invited  to  hearken,  contain  a  message  of  mercy 
and  peace,  and  hold  out  an  atonement  for  sin.  He  has  said  to  them, 
I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  and  they  have  responded  to  his  call  and 
accepted  his  promise.  This  is  their  life.  Being  pardoned  and 
accepted  they  are  exhorted,  and  by  grace  enabled,  to  walk  worthy  of 
their  new-born  faith  in  God  and  repentance  toward  him.  I  am  the 
Lord.  This  one  name,  the  Creator  of  all  that  I  purpose,  is  the  secure 
resting-place  of  faith  and  the  supreme  ground  of  obedience. 

6-17.  The  degrees  of  kindred  that  are  too  near  for  lawful  wedlock. 
6.  This  verse  contains  the  general  principle,  enforced  by  the  authority 
from  which  there  is  no  appeal :  I  am  the  Lord.  Any  one  near  ofkin^ 
Share,  or  flesh  of  flesh,  is  used  to  denote  a  relative  who  partakes  of  the 
same  flesh.  To  uncover  the  nakedness.  This  phrase  for  cohabitation 
is  designedly  used  to  denote  an  act  which  is  to  be  condemned  as  in- 
cestuous. As  carnal  intercourse  without  the  bond  of  wedlock  is 
condemned  by  the  seventh  commandment,  these  precepts  must  be 
understood  to  prohibit  marriage  within  the  degrees  of  kinsmanship 
here  mentioned.  A  man  is  not  to  wed  his  mother,  father's  wife, 
sister  by  either  parent,  granddaughter,  sister  by  the  father  who  has 
married  a  second  time,  aunt  by  either  side,  wife  of  father's  brother, 
daughter-in-law,  brother's  wife,  wife's  daughter,  or  granddaughter.  It 
is  to  be  presumed  that  the  law  applies  to  the  female  as  well  as  the 
male  ;  and  hence  a  woman  is  not  to  wed  her  father,  and  so  on  through- 
out. 7.  The  nakedness  of  thy  father.  This  intimates  that  the  law 
applies  to  the  female  as  well  as  the  male,  changing  what  needs  to  be 
changed     8.  It  is  thy  father's  nakedness,  according  to  the  principle 


LEVITICUS  XVIII.  9-17.  231 

nakedness  of  thy  sister,  thy  father's  daughter  or  thy  mother's 
daughter,  born  at  home  or  born  abroad,  thou  shalt  not  uncover 
their  nakedness.  §  10.  Tlie  nakedness  of  thy  son's  daughter 
or  of  thy  daughter's  daughter  thou  shalt  not  uncover  their 
nakedness ;  for  they  are  thine  own  nakedness.  §  11.  The 
nakedness  of  thy  father's  wife's  daughter,  begotten  of  thy  father, 
being  thy  sister,  thou  shalt  not  uncover  her  nakedness.  § 
12.  The  nakedness  of  thy  father's  sister  thou  shalt  not  un- 
cover ;  she  is  near  of  kin  to  thy  father.  §  13.  The  nakedness 
of  thy  mother's  sister  thou  shalt  not  uncover ;  for  she  is  near 
of  kin  to  thy  mother.  §  14.  The  nakedness  of  thy  father's 
brother  thou  shalt  not  uncover:  his  wife  thou  shalt  not 
approach ;  she  is  thy  aunt.  §  15.  The  nakedness  of  thy 
daughter-in-law  thou  shalt  not  uncover ;  she  is  thy  sou's  wife  ; 
thou  shalt  not  uncover  her  nakedness.  §  16.  The  nakedness 
of  thy  brother's  wife  thou  shalt  not  uncover ;  she  is  thy 
brother's  nakedness.     S     17.  The  nakedness  of  a  woman  and 


that  husband  and  wife  are  one  flesh.  9.  Born  at  home  or  horn 
abroad.  Birth  abroad,  or  in  another  home,  would  most  likely  take 
place  when  the  mother  having  married  again  would  pass  into  a  home 
where  her  daughter  by  a  former  husband  was  not  born.  10.  For  they 
are  thine  own  nakedness.  As  this  holds  good  of  granddaughters,  so 
much  more  of  daughters.  The  latter  case  is  involved  in  vs.  7,  and 
does  not  need  any  further  expression.  11.  This  case  might  come 
under  vs.  9.  It  refers  to  a  younger  half-sister,  while  an  elder  half-sister 
is  included  in  the  verse  quoted.  12,  13.  These  verses  include  the 
aunt  on  both  sides.  14.  This  by  parity  of  reason  may  be  extended  to 
a  mother's  brother's  wife.  16.  This  is  subject  to  the  exception  of  the 
wife  of  a  brother  who  has  died  childless,  according  to  the  custom  re- 
cognized in  Deut.  xxv.  5-10.  17.  The  daughter  or  granddaughter  of 
a  former  wife  is  excluded.  The  reason  assigned  is,  she  is  near  of  kin. 
The  sister  of  a  former  wife  is  excluded  on  the  same  ground,  even 
if  their  connection  were  not  prohibited  by  vs.  16.     It  is  lewdness}^ 


232  ON  CHASTITY. 

her  daughter  thou  shalt  not  uncover;  her  son's  daughter  or 
her  daughter's  daughter  thou  shalt  not  take  to  uncover  her 
nakedness  ;  they  are  near  of  kin  ;  it  is  lewdness. 

18.  And  a  woman  unto  her  sister  thou  shalt  not  take,  by 
constraint   to  uncover   her   nakedness  with   her   in   her  life. 

The  connection  here  in  question  is  pronounced  to  be  wicked  and  re- 
pugnant to  right  feeling.  Thus  the  general  principle  stated  in  the 
sixth  verse  is  expanded  into  ten  clauses,  which  being  fairly  interpreted 
will  include  every  needful  case.  The  observance  of  these  rules  pro- 
tects the  sanctity  and  peace  of  the  home,  and  guards  against  the 
licentious  manners  of  the  surrounding  nations. 

18-23.  A  prohibition  of  some  other  kinds  of  incest.  18.  And  a 
woman  unto  her  sister^^  thou  shalt  not  take.  The  literal  meaning  of 
these  words  is  here  given.  The  Hebrew  scholar  is  aware  that  this  is 
a  usual  phrase  for  "  one  to  another."  The  case  of  a  sister-in-law  is, 
by  parity  of  relation,  settled  in  verse  IG.  It  is  to  be  understood, 
therefore,  that  this  verse  forbids  the  taking  of  a  second  wife  while  the 
first  is  living.  So  the  Karaites  understood  it.  This  is  borne  out  by 
the  context.  By  constraint.  It  is,  in  general,  an  act  of  unkindness 
and  hardship  to  the  first  wife.  The  one  is  an  adversary  to  the  other 
(1  Sam.  i.  G),  a  rival  in  the  husband's  affections,  and  therefore  in 
influence  over  his  conduct.  With  her,  along  with  her,  and  conse- 
quently against  her,  as  indeed  it  might  fairly  be  rendered.  In  her  life. 
This  leaves  it  open  to  a  man  to  marry  another  wife  after  the  death  of 
the  former.  At  the  same  time  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  as  Patrick  and 
others  reason,  that  polygamy  was  practised,  the  practice  noticed,  and 
certain  regulations  founded  on  the  practice  in  Scripture.  Jacob  and 
Elkanah,  the  latter  a  Levite,  had  each  two  wives,  and  several  kings 
had  more  than  one.  It  was  enacted  that  the  eldest  son  should  have 
the  rights  of  primogeniture,  though  his  mother  were  the  less  favored 
of  two  wives  (Deut.  xxi.  15),  and  the  rights  of  the  former  wife  should 
be  guaranteed  (Ex.  xxi.  10).  But  it  is  to  be  replied  that  Jacob's  case 
was  before  the  law,  that  no  penalty  is  imposed  in  chap.  xx.  on  this 
particular  infringement  of  the  law,  that  kings  are  forbidden  to  multiply 
wives   (Deut.  xvii.  17),  and  that  the  regulations  do  not  give  any 


LEVITICUS  x\^II.  18-23.  233 

19.  And  unto  a  woman  in  lier  separation  by  lier  uncleanness 
thou  shalt  not  approach  to  uncover  her  nakedness.  20.  And 
with  thy  neighbor's  wife  thou  shalt  not  lie  carnally,  to  be 
defiled  with  her.  21.  And  of  thy  seed  thou  shalt  not  give 
to  pass  through  for  Molek,  nor  shalt  thou  profane  the  name  of 
thy  God  :  I  am  the  Lord.  22.  And  with  a  male  thou  shalt 
not  lie  as  with  a  woman ;  it  is  abomination.     28.  And  thou 

countenance  or  allowance  to  the  connection,  which  was  simply  toler- 
ated and  occasionally  formed.  After  forbidding  the  practice  the  sin- 
gular moderation  of  the  legislative  system  is  shown  in  not  imposing  a 
penalty  on  this  offence.  It  simply  guarded  the  rights  of  the  first  wife 
and  her  offspring.  19.  This  enactment  needs  no  elucidation  except  a 
reference  to  xv.  24.  20.  This  is  simply  one  form  of  the  seventh  com- 
mandment. 21.  Passing  tlirough  for  Molek?^  Idolatry  is  a  spiritual 
adultery  (xvii.  7,  and  elsewhere).  Passing  of  their  seed  through  the 
fire  in  honor  of  Molek  was  an  idolatrous  custom  of  the  Keuaanites, 
whose  country  the  Israelites  were  going  to  .possess.  They  needed 
therefore  to  be  specially  warned  against  this  form  of  idolatry.  Molek 
was  the  idol  of  the  Phoenicians  and  Ammonites  having  some  resem- 
blance to  the  Greek  Kronos.  It  is  probable  from  this  passage  that  there 
was  obscenity  as  well  as  cruelty  practised  in  his  worship.  Passing  chil- 
dren through  the  fire  was  sui3posed  by  some  of  the  rabbis  and  fathers 
to  be  a  kind  of  lustration  by  which  they  were  devoted  to  Molek.  But 
from  Ps.  cvi.  38 ;  Jer.  vii.  3 ;  Ezek.  xvi.  20,  it  is  plain  that  at  least  at 
a  late  period  children  were  burned  as  victims  to  the  idol.  Diodorus 
Siculus  describes  the  Carthaginian  Kronos  as  a  brazen  statue,  which 
was  heated  red,  and  the  child  was  placed  in  its  arms  and  so  destroyed 
with  great  torture,  the  priests  meanwhile  drowning  its  screams  by  the 
beating  of  drums.  Molek  was  considered  to  be  akin  to  Baal.  Nor 
slialt  thou  profane  the  name  of  thy  God,  by  assigning  it  to  an  idol,  an 
imaginary  being  of  the  most  impure  and  inhuman  propensities.  I  am 
the  Lord  is  the  closing  watchword  here,  once  more  impressing  upon 
the  minds  of  the  people  the  present  fact  that  the  lawgiver  is  the  one 
true,  living  God  of  all  authority  and  power.     22,  23.  These  are  the 


234  ON  CHASTITY. 

sbalt  not  lie  with  any  beast  to  be  defiled  with  it ;  nor  shall  a 
woman  stand  before  a  beast  to  cohabit  with  it ;  it  is  pollution. 
24.  Defile  not  yourselves  with  any  of  these ;  for  with  all 
these  are  the  nations  defiled  which  I  cast  out  before  you. 
25.  And  the  land  was  defiled  ;  and  I  visited  its  iniquity  upon 
it,  and  the  land  spued  out  its  inhabitants.  26.  But  ye  shall 
keep  my  statutes  and  my  judgments,  and  shall  not  do  any  of 
these  abominations,  the  home-born  nor  the  stranger  that 
sojourneth  among  you.  27.  For  all  these  abominations  the 
men  of  the  land  who  were  before  you  have  done  ;  and  the  laud 
is  defiled.  28.  And  the  land  shall  not  spue  you  out  when  ye 
defile  it,  as  it  spued  out  the  nation  that  was  before  you. 
29.  For  whosoever  shall  do  any  of  these  abominations,  the 
souls  that  do  so  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  their  people. 

two  sins  of  Sodom,  the  one  of  which  is  declared  to  be  an  abomination,^^ 
and  the  other  a  pollution.^ 

24-30.  A  warning  against  defiling  the  land  by  unnatural  crimes. 
24.  Dejile  not  yourselves.  Sin  is  the  only  real  defilement.  With  all 
these  are  the  nations  defiled.  This  is  the  reason  for  specifying  these 
revolting  crimes.  The  people  are  warned  against  them  while  their 
hearts  are  still  unbiassed,  before  they  see  and  become  familiarized 
with  them,  and  so  fall  into  them.  Which  I  cast  out  before  you,  which 
I  am  about  to  cast  out.  Such  is  the  force  of  the  original.  25.  And 
the  land  was  defiled.  The  crime  was  completed  and  past.  And  I 
visited  its  iniquity.  The  visitation  in  its  beginnings,  at  least,  was 
actually  past.  And  the  land  spued  out.  This  is  a  strong  figure  taken 
from  the  action  of  an  over-burdened  stomach  rejecting  its  contents. 
So  this  land  was  already  beginning  to  be  depopulated.  The  hornet 
(Ex.  xxiii.  28)  and  the  diseases  consequent  upon  a  grossly  immoral 
life  were  already  at  work.  26.  The  home-born  7ior  the  stranger. 
From  the  frequent  mention  of  the  stranger  it  is  obvious  thafc  prose- 
lytes to  the  true  God  were  expected  and  welcomed.  27,  28.  As  it 
spued  out.  This  may  be  literally  rendered,  as  it  will  have  spued  out. 
The  future  perfect  describes  an  event  in  the  future  as  completed. 


LEVITICUS  XIX.  235 

80.  And  ye  shall  keep  my  charge  not  to  do  any  of  the  abomi- 
nable customs,  which  were  done  before  you,  and  ye  shall  not 
defile  yourselves  with  them :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

30    IF  nil 

29,  30.  Sliall  he  cut  off.  Exclusion  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel 
is  the  natural  consequence  of  defying  the  God  of  Israel.  Ye  shall 
keep  my  charge,  the  charge  of  his  sanctuary,  of  his  law  and  his  promise, 
as  the  seed  of  Abraham  in  which  all  the  families  of  the  earth  were  to 
be  blessed.  Tliis  solemn  admonition  is  now  concluded  with  the  never- 
to-be-forgotten  word  of  power  :  /  am  the  Lord. 

KOTES. 
6.  Near  of  kin,  i~ill33  ^xd,  otKeios  o-apKo;.      TTie  root,  ^^"O ,  signifies 
to  be  over,  remain  over.     The  lexicons  give  the  meaning  to  swell  or 
grow,  in  order  to  arrive  at  flesh  as  the  meaning  of  the  noun.    But  what 
is  over  may  just  as  readily  come  to  signify  flesh  and  kindred. 

17.  Lewdness,  nat,  plot,  evil  device;  aaifi-q^a,  impiety;  r.  lie  in 
wait,  plan  evil. 

18.  Thus  in  Ex.  xxvi.  3  it  is  said,  five  curtains  shall  be  coupled  one 
to  another  nr'nx'bx  rtiax,  woman  to  her  sister,  and  so  in  vs.  5,  6,  17. 
See  also  Gen.  xiii.  11 ;  xxvi.  31. 

21.  Molek,  Tt^an ,  the  King ;  ap^wv  in  this  passage.  The  article  is 
always  prefixed.  This  is  a  profanation  of  the  name  king,  as  Baal  is 
of  master  or  lord. 

22.  Abomination,  Hariri,  an  object  of  abhorrence;  ftSiXvy/Ma. 

23.  Pollution,  ^nn ,  confusion,  unnatural  mixture  ;  fivaapov. 


XIX.    ON  HOLIXESS. 

This  chapter  treats  of  holiness  as  the  character  of  the  people  of  God. 
It  states  the  general  principle  and  enters  into  a  variety  of  details 
suggested  by  the  circumstances  and  immediate  prospects  of  the  people. 
They  are  in  communion  with  God  (1-8),  in  the  communion  of  saints 
(9-22),  and  are  about  to  be  in  a  land  of  holiness  (23-32),  and  visited 


236  0^  HOLINESS. 

XIX.  1.  And  the  Loed  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  Speak 
unto  all  the  assembly  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  say  unto  them, 
Ye  shall  be  holy ;  for  I  the  Lord  your  God  am  holy.  3.  Yq 
shall  fear  each  man  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  keep  my 


by  strangers  (33-37).  And  each  of  these  relations  brings  out  a  series 
of  duties  peculiar  to  itself.  The  communication  is  made  to  Moses  and 
concerns  the  whole  assembly  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

1-8.  The  assembly  in  communion  with  God.  2.  All  the  assembly 
are  concerned  in  this  duty.  Te  shall  be  holy.  This  is  the  genei'al 
principle.  The  reason  follows.  JFor  I  the  Lord  your  God  am  holy. 
Two  reasons  at  least  wrapjied  up  in  this.  First,  the  Author  of  your 
being  is  holy ;  and  the  stream  should  taste  of  the  fountain.  Second, 
the  covenant  of  grace  implied  in  the  terms  "  the  Lord  your  God" 
forms  the  most  powerful  motive  to  holiness.  Other  reasons  are  im- 
plied. Reason  binds  you  to  be  holy ;  a  sanctified  reason  enforces  the 
obligation  by  new  motives.  3.  Two  main  pillars  of  holiness  are  now 
adduced.  These  are,  fearing  parents  and  keeping  the  sabbath.  They 
are  associated  here  as  they  are  in  the  decalogue,  where  they  unite  the 
first  and  second  tables  of  the  law  —  our  duty  to  God  and  our  duty  to 
man.  Reverence  to  parents  is  the  foundation  of  all  piety  and  equity. 
Up  to  the  years  of  discretion  the  parent  is  in  the  place  of  God  to  the 
child.  Reverence  for  the  parents  and  their  faithful  lessons  will 
beget  reverence  for  God  in  the  heart.  In  like  manner  if  we  truly 
resjject  the  parents,  we  must  esteem  the  children,  and  these  are  our 
brothers  and  sisters  of  the  whole  human  family.  The  sabbath  is  the 
appointed  season  of  rest  from  labor,  of  leisure  for  holy  converse,  of 
convocation  for  religious  instruction  and  worship  in  all  our  dwelling- 
places.  It  is,  therefore,  man's  highest  honor  and  holiest  privilege. 
Its  retrospect  is  God,  the  Author  of  man  ;  its  prospect  is  God,  the  End 
of  man.  The  sabbath  then  is  the  fountain  of  all  social  religion,  peace, 
purity,  and  liberty.  In  the  eyes  of  him  who  inspired  the  legislator  it 
stands  on  a  par  with  obedience  to  parents,  among  the  very  pinnacles 
of  holiness.  And  the  history  of  Jew  and  Christian  corroborates  the 
sentence  that  lays  honor  to  parents  and  the  keeping  of  the  sabbath  at 
the  foundation  of  all  morality  and  religion.    The  watchword  Is,  as  usual, 


LEVITICUS  XIX.  3-8.  237 

sabbaths :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God.  4.  Turn  ye  not  to  idols, 
and  molten  gods  make  not  for  you :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 
5.  And  when  ye  offer  a  sacrifice  of  peace  unto  the  Lord,  for 
your  acceptance  ye  shall  offer  it.  6.  It  shall  be  eaten  on  the 
day  that  ye  offer  it  and  on  the  morrow ;  and  that  which  is  left 
till  the  third  day  shall  be  burned  with  fire.  7.  And  if  it  be 
eaten  at  all  on  the  third  day,  it  is  a  foul  thing ;  it  shall  not  be 
accepted.     8.  And  he  that  eateth  it  shall  bear  his  iniquity  ; 

"  I  am  the  Lord  your  God."  This  infant  people  need  to  have  this 
fundamental  principle  of  all  piety  reiterated,  until  it  is  indelibly 
impressed  on  the  mind.  4.  Turn  ye  not  to  idols.  This  is  the  coun- 
terpart of  the  former  verse.  As  the  one  presented  the  positive,  the 
other  presents  the  negative  side  of  holiness.  To  have  other  objects 
of  worship  than  the  one  true  God,  or  to  have  a  false  notion  of  what 
God  really  is,  forms  the  sandy  foundation  of  all  error,  disappointment, 
and  irretrievable  ruin.  False  gods  and  molten  gods  refer  to  the 
first  and  second  commandments  :  they  are  not  to  be  regarded  or  made. 
The  watchword  comes  in  here  again  with  great  point  and  force.  5-8. 
A  sacrifice  of  peace.  As  the  fear  of  parents  and  the  keeping  of  the 
sabbath  are  selected  as  the  corner-stone  of  all  morality,  so  the  sac- 
rifice of  peace  is  set  forth  as  the  sum  and  crown  of  all  worship.  The 
burnt-sacrifice  presents  the  great  all-sufficient  atonement ;  the  oblation 
is  merely  an  accompaniment  or  attendant ;  the  sin-sacrifice  sets  forth 
expiation,  and  the  trespass-offering  propitiation  for  a  sin  of  inadvertance. 
The  sacrifice  of  peace  presupposes  all  this.  It  is  the  symbol  and 
medium  of  fellowship  with  God.  It  implies  that  the  people  have 
already  accepted  the  atonement ;  which  is  the  beginning  of  all  prac- 
tical holiness.  Hence  it  is  the  only  sacrifice  suitable  to  be  introduced 
here.  For  your  acceptance.  The  child  of  faith  and  penitence  must 
ever  plead  the  propitiatory  sacrifice  as  the  ground  of  his  acceptance. 
And  the  ^leace-offering  includes  the  blood  that  expiates  and  the  fat  that 
propitiates,  as  well  as  the  flesh  that  constitutes  the  banquet  of  love 
and  holiness.  The  particulars  here  repeated  have  been  already 
noticed  in  vii.  16-18  and  are  inserted  here  in  a  new  connection  for 
the  sake  of  emphasis.     He  hath  profaned  the  holy  thing  ^  of  the  Lord, 


238  ON  HOLINESS. 

for  he  hatli  profaned  the  holy  thing  of  the  Lord  :  and  that 
soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people. 

9.  And  when  ye  reap  the  harvest  of  your  land,  thou  shalt 
not  wholly  reap  the  corner  of  tliy  field  nor  gather  the  gleaning 
of  thy  harvest.  10.  And  thy  vineyard  thou  shalt  not  glean 
nor  gather  the  leavings  of  thy  vineyard  ;  to  the  poor  and  to 
the  stranger  thou  shalt  leave  them :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God. 

11.  Ye  shall  not   steal,  nor  deny,  nor  lie   one  to   another. 

12.  And  ye  shall  not  swear  by  my  name  to  a  lie,  nor  profane 
the  name  of  thy  God :  I  am  the  Lord.  Thou  shalt  not  oppress 
thy  neighbor  nor  rob  him,  nor  shalt  thou  keep  the  wages  of  a 
hireling  with  thee  till  the  morning.  14.  Thou  shalt  not  speak 
ill  of  the  deaf,  nor  put  a  stumbling-block  before  the  blind ; 

The  holy  thing  may  here  be  preserved  in  its  generality,  as  it  in- 
cludes both  the  sanctuary  and  the  sacrifice.  By  the  third  day  decom- 
position has  set  in,  and  the  flesh  is  no  longer  fresh  or  fit  for  represent- 
ing that  which  is  holy.  The  great  propitiatory  victim  did  not  see 
corruption,  as  life  returned  on  the  third  day. 

9-22.  Holiness  in  communion  with  the  saints.  9,  10.  Charitable 
consideration  for  the  poor.  Thou  shalt.  From  the  plural  the  law- 
giver passes  to  the  singular  to  enforce  individual  responsibility.  Not 
wholly  reap  the  corner  of  thy  field.  Thou  art  not  to  be  exact  about 
the  borders  of  thy  field,  or  the  stray  stalks  that  are  forgotten,  or  a 
grape  here  and  there  on  thy  vine.  Leave  them  to  the  poor  or  the 
stranger.  The  solemn  watchword  is  then  added.  The  Lord  seeth 
and  regardeth.  11,  12.  From  charity  he  passes  to  verity.  Among 
the  saints  there  is  to  be  no  stealing,  denying  a  trust,  lying,  swearing 
to  a  lie,  or  otherwise  taking  God's  name  in  vain.  The  reason  is  de- 
cisive :  "  I  am  the  Lord."  The  significance  of  this  sentence  is  never 
to  be  forgotten  or  unheeded.  13,  14.  From  verity  the  legislator  pro- 
ceeds to  probity  of  conduct.  Overbearing  in  its  leading  forms  is  con- 
demned. Thou  shalt  not  oppress,  rob,  or  keep  back  wages  earned. 
Speaking  ill  of  the  deaf,  who  cannot  hear,  and  putting  a  stumbling- 
block  in  the  way  of  the  blind,  who  cannot  see,  are  gratuitous  and 


LEVITICUS  XIX.  14-18.  239 

but  thou  slialt  fear  thy  God :  I  am  the  Lord.  15.  Thou 
shalt  not  do  wrong  in  judgment,  nor  respect  the  person  of  the 
poor,  nor  honor  the  person  of  the  great :  in  righteousness 
shalt  thou  judge  thy  neighbors.  16.  Thou  shalt  not  go  about 
as  a  tale-bearer  among  thy  people  ;  nor  stand  against  the  blood 
of  thy  neighbor :  I  am  the  Lord.  17.  Thou  shalt  not  hate  thy 
brother  in  thy  heart :  thou  shalt  surely  rebuke  thy  neighbor, 
and  not  bear  sin  for  him.     18.  Thou  shalt  not  avenge  nor 

cowardly  acts  of  mischief.  The  watchword  here  intimates  that  there 
is  One  who  hears  and  sees,  and  will  requite  the  wrong-doer  and  redress 
the  wrong-sufferer.  15,  16.  He  now  advances  from  the  citizen  to  the 
magistrate,  from  private  to  judicial  rectitude.  The  judge  is  not  to  do 
wrong  in  judgment,  not  to  lean  to  the  poor  man  nor  to  the  rich,  but 
to  judge  his  neighbor  in  righteousness.  This  is  a  concise  and  compre- 
hensive summary  of  his  duty.  The  tale-bearer  and  the  false  witness 
are  here  condemned.  If  the  judge  on  tlie  bench  is  to  be  incorruptible, 
the  witness  in  the  box  is  to  be  unimpeachable.  The  watchword  here 
again  reminds  all  of  the  inevitable  day  of  final  account.  17,  18.  From 
outward  manifestations  of  the  moral  disposition  in  word  and  deed  the 
legislator  now  rises  to  the  disposition  itself.  Hatred  and  revenge  are 
here  forbidden,  and  fidelity  and  love  are  enjoined.  It  is  to  be  ob- 
served that  vengeance,  or  the  vindication  of  the  law,  is  proper  to  the 
magistrate,  to  whose  duties  reference  is  made  in  verse  15.  Tliou  shalt 
surely  rebuke  thy  neighbor.  This  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  tasks  of 
friendship.  Yet  it  is  a  duty  of  paramount  importance  and  obligation. 
It  is  in  fact  the  principle  that  binds  us  to  preach  the  gospel  of  repent- 
ance and  remission  of  sins  to  an  ungodly  world.  It  requires  both 
prudence  and  grace  to  discharge  it  with  effect.  And  not  bear  sin  for 
him.  If  I  do  not  warn  my  brother  when  the  opportunity  offers,  I  am 
to  be  blamed  for  want  of  ti'uth  and  love.  Nor  watch  for  the  children, 
watch  for  their  halting  or  for  the  chance  of  retaliation.  We  have  no 
moral  standing  here ;  this  belongs  only  to  the  magistrate  who  is 
bound  to  vindicate  the  law.  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself 
How  simply  and  unaffectedly,  without  any  blowing  of  trumpets,  comes 
in  this  second  of  the  two  commandments  on  which  hang  all  the  law 


240  ON  HOLINESS. 

watch  for  the  children  of  thy  people ;  but  thou  slialt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself :  I  am  the  Lord. 

19.  My  statutes  ye  shall  keep.  Thou  shalt  not  let  thy  cattle 
gender  of  diverse  kinds ;  nor  shalt  thou  sow  thy  field  with 
seed  of  diverse  kinds ;  nor  shall  a  garment  of  diverse  kinds, 
linsey-woolsey,  come  upon  thee.  20.  And  when  a  man  lieth 
carnally  with  a  woman  that  is  a  bondmaid,  betrothed  to  a 
husband,  and  not  at  all  redeemed,  nor  freedom  given  to  her, 
they  shall  be  scourged;  they  shall  not  be  put  to  death,  because 
she  was  not  free.  21.  And  he  shall  bring  his  trespass-offering 
unto  the  Lord  to  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting,  a  ram 
of  trespass.      22.  And  the   priest   shall  atone  for  him  with 

and  the  propliets.  This,  as  well  as  each  of  the  preceding  groups  of 
two  verses  each,  is  followed  by  the  appropriate  and  authoritative  pro- 
clanaation,  "I  am  the  Lord." 

19-22.  These  verses  refer  to  unnatural  connections.  19.  Three 
such  connections  are  here  fordidden.  TJiy  cattle  gender  of  diverse 
hinds^^.  This  is  a  monstrous  confusion.  The  .other  two  are  mainly 
typical  of  that  distinction  of  things  that  morally  differ,  which  must 
characterize  the  holy.  Linsey-woolsey,  a  web  of  which  the  weft  and 
warp  differ  in  kind.  20-22.  Another  illicit  connection  is  here  con- 
demned and  its  penalty  declared.  A  bondmaid,  one  who  is  bound  to 
a  certain  period  of  service.  The  position  she  occupies  is  described  in 
Ex.  xxi.  7-10.  Betrothed'^  to  a  husband,  literally  plucked  off,  sep- 
arated, not  despised  or  rejected.  Not  at  all  redeemed,  bought  back 
from  slavery.  Nor  freedom  given  to  her,  bestowed  without  payment. 
These  were  the  two  ways  of  being  made  free.  They  shall  be  scourged. 
Correction  by  scourging,  which  was  limited  to  forty  stripes,  shall  be 
administered.  This  applies  to  both  as  we  learn  from  the  following 
words,  "  they  shall  not  be  put  to  death."  The  Sept.  also  makes  it 
jilural.  Bccmise  she  was  not  free.  Bondage  was  a  disability  arising 
from  fault  of  some  kind.  The  bondage  diminished  her  responsibility, 
and  her  degradation  lessened  his  blame.  If  a  man  lie  with  a  free 
damsel  that  is  betrothed,  both  are  to  die  by  stoning  (Deut.  xxii.  23, 24) 


LEVITICUS  XIX.  21-25,  241 

the  ram  of  trespass  before  the  Lord  for  his  sin  which  he 
hath  done ;  and  he  shall  be  forgiven  for  the  sin  which  he 
hath  done.  ^ 

23.  And  when  ye  go  into  the  land  and  plant  every  tree  for 
food,  then  ye  shall  count  the  fruit  thereof  as  uncircumcised  ; 
three  years  shall  it  be  uncircumcised  to  you ;  it  shall  not  be 
eaten.  24.  And  in  the  fourth  year  all  its  fruit  shall  be  holy, 
a  praise-offering  to  the  Lord.  25.  And  in  the  fifth  year  shall 
ye  cat  the  fruit  of  it  to  add  unto  you  its  increase :  I  am  the 


If  not  betrothed,  he  is  to  marry  her  (Ex.  xxii.  16  ;  Deut.  xxii.  29). 
His  trespass-offering.  The  punishment  has  been  inflicted  in  the  way  of 
scourging.  As  life  has  been  spared,  the  trespass-offering,  which  rep- 
resents compensation  or  amends,  or  the  righteousness  which  merits  life, 
is  to  be  made.  Shall  atone  for  him.  "While  propitiation  is  in  the 
foreground,  expiation  must  be  at  least  in  the  background  ;  and  hence  a 
complete  atonement  is  made  as  far  as  the  type  is  concerned.  For  his 
sin  which  he  had  done.  It  is  the  sin  that  demands  expiatioa,  and  there 
is  expiation  whenever  there  is  blood  shed  at  the  altar.  And  he  shall 
be  forgiven.  The  truly  penitent  who  lays  his  hand  on  the  atoning  sac- 
rifice is  always  forgiven. 

23-32.  Holiness  in  regard  to  the  land.  23-25.  The  fruit-tree. 
When  ye  go  into  the  land,  the  land  of  promise,  to  which  the  wanderers 
in  the  wilderness  looked  forward  with  hope.  And  plant.  This  regu- 
lation refers  to  young  trees.  Count  the  fruit  thereof  as  uncircumcised, 
acknowledge  its  foreskin  on  its  fruit,  regard  it  as  profane  and  unfit  for 
use.  This  is  a  ceremonial  arrangement  as  it  stands  in  the  book  of 
the  divine  law ;  but  it  falls  in  with  botanical  science,  as  the  fruit  for 
the  first  three  years  is  inferior,  and  if  the  flower-buds  be  nipped  the 
future  fertility  will  be  promoted.  Three  years.  This  is  the  number 
of  perfection.  In  the  fourth  year,  it  is  fit  for  use.  Holy,  a  praise- 
offering,  a  holiness  of  praises.  The  fruit  of  this  year  is  to  be  dedicated 
to  the  Lord.  In  the  ffth  year  the  fruit  is  yours  to  increase  your  store 
of  provisions.  It  has  been  consecrated  by  the  dedication  of  the  fourth 
year's  produce  to  the  Lord.  /  am  the  Lord,  the  Author  of  your  being 
31 


242  ON  HOLINESS. 

LoED.  26.  Ye  shall  not  eat  with  the  blood  ;  ye  shall  not  take 
omens  nor  use  charms.  27.  Ye  shall  not  round  the  corner 
of  your  head,  nor  mar  the  corner  of  thy  chin.  28.  Ye  shall 
not  make  a  cutting  in  your  flesh  for  the  dead,  nor  make  a 
print  of  branding  upon  you.     29.  Thou  shalt  not  profane  thy 

and  of  all  the  fruits  of  the  land.  26.  From  the  vegetable  the  tran- 
sition is  to  the  animal  kingdom.  Not  eat  with  the  blood.  Tliis  phrase 
recurs  in  1  Sam.  xiv.  33  in  the  same  sense.  It  indicates  a  careless 
mode  of  slaughtering  the  animal,  so  that  the  blood  is  not  properly 
drained  off.  Three  other  customs  prevalent  in  the  land  to  which  they 
were  going  are  now  prohibited.  Take  omens,"^  observe  objects  and 
events,  and  interpret  them  as  signs  of  the  purjiose  of  heaven  or  the 
course  of  other  events.  This  meaning  of  the  word  is  confirmed  by 
Gen.  XXX.  27 ;  xliv.  5,  and  1  Kings  xx.  33.  Use  charms,  set  forms 
of  words  whispered  or  muttered  in  a  mysterious  manner,  as  if  they 
secured  the  power  of  a  supernatural  being  to  accomplish  the  end  in 
view.  They  either  invoked  the  power  of  other  beings  than  God,  or 
they  were  unauthorized  by  him. 

27.  Hound  the  corner  of  your  head,  cut  off  the  hair  in  a  circle 
round  the  head,  leaving  a  lock  on  the  top.  The  corner  means  the 
border  or  edge.  The  round  tonsure  was  practised  by  the  Arabs  in 
honor  of  their  god  called  'OporaA.,  and  identified  with  Bacchus  (Herod, 
iii.  8),  and  doubtless  by  their  neighbors  the  Kenaanites.  Mar  the 
corner  of  thy  chin,  cut  or  shave  off  the  beard.  The  marring  of  the 
beard  was  of  like  import.  Apart  from  idolatry,  however,  the  people 
were  not  to  disfigure  themselves  by  any  singularities  of  the  old  in- 
habitants of  the  land.  There  is  no  allusion  in  this  passage  to  mourning 
for  the  dead.  28.  Not  malce  a  cutting  in  your  flesh.  This  was  quite 
common  in  the  ancient,  and  especially  the  Eastern  world,  and  occurs 
among  the  Indians  still.  For  the  dead.  For  a  soul,  that  is,  a  dead 
or  departed  soul,  the  body  of  which  has  not  yet  been  removed  from 
the  sight.  This  form  of  mourning  was  at  length  used  to  express  any 
distress  of  mind.  Nor  make  a  print  of  branding.  This  is  the  tattooing 
of  the  skin,  which  was  customary  among  the  ancients,  and  is  still 
practised  even  in  Arabia.     But  the  people  of  God  are  not  in  this  way 


LEVITICUS  XIX.  29-32.  243 

daughter  to  make  her  a  harlot ;  that  the  land  be  not  adulterous, 
and  the  land  be  not  full  of  lewdness.  30.  My  sabbaths  ye 
shall  keep  and  fear  my  sanctuary  :  I  am  the  Lord.  31.  Ye 
shall  not  turn  to  familiar  spirits,  nor  seek  after  wizards  to  be 
defiled  by  them :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God.     32.  Thou  shalt 

to  mutilate  or  mar  their  faces  or  persons.  29.  Profane  thy  daughter. 
Fathers  were  wont,  in  many  ancient  nations,  to  exercise  a  most  cruel 
and  vile  power  over  their  daughters.  This  was  pre-eminently  the 
case  in  the  land  of  Kenaan.  The  immoralities  of  Sodom  and  Go- 
morrha  were  not  without  their  parallel  throughout  the  land.  30.  My 
sabhaths.  The  only  effectual  counteraction  against  the  vices  and 
impurities  of  the  land  was  to  be  found  in  the  sabbath  and  the  sanc- 
tuary. The  weekly  return  of  the  holy  convocation,  with  its  lessons 
and  its  devotions,  was  a  strong  check  upon  the  temptations  without, 
and  a  powerful  means  of  generating  habits  of  purity  and  piety.  Fear 
my  sanctuary.  The  knowledge  and  worship  of  the  true  God  had, 
since  the  days  of  Melkizedec,  vanished  out  of  the  land.  The  re- 
establishment  of  the  worship  of  God  and  the  introduction  of  the 
highly  expressive  service  of  the  tabernacle  were  the  safeguards  of  the 
true  worshippers  against  the  idolatrous  and  corrupt  manners  of  the 
previous  inhabitants.  This  brief  admonition  to  keep  the  sabbath 
and  fear  the  sanctuary,  as  the  salvation  of  the  people  amidst  sur- 
rounding apostasy,  is  enforced  by  the  solemn  sentence,  I  am  the  Lord. 
31.  Not  turn  to  familiar  spirits,'^  ghosts  supposed  to  be  called  up,  by 
those  who  have  the  secret  power,  to  answer  questions  or  perform 
some  other  service.  They  are  so  far  the  slaves  or  famuli  of  their 
masters,  and  hence  have  been  called  familiar  spirits.  Wizards,"^ 
persons  professing  to  be  acquainted  with  secret,  supernatural,  or 
infernal  arts.  These  were  common  in  the  land  of  Kenaan.  I  atn  the 
Lord  your  God.  Unto  me,  your  Deliverer,  ye  are  to  turn  for  help 
and  seek  for  wisdom.  32.  Respect  for  age  and  reverence  for  God 
needed  to  be  inculcated  and  fostered  in  that  age  and  land.  It  is  no 
wonder  that  the  minute  and  careful  warnings  of  this  chapter  are  set 
before  the  people.  The  iniquity  of  the  Amorites  was  now  at  its 
height.     "We  have  a  very  dark  outhne  of  it  in  the  painful  details  of 


244  ON  HOLINESS. 

rise  up  before  a  lioary  head  and  honor  the  face  of  an  old  man ; 
and  thou  shalt  fear  thy  God :  I  am  the  Lord.  § 

33.  And  if  a  stranger  sojourn  with  thee  in  the  land,  ye  shall 
not  oppress  him.  34.  As  one  born  among  you  shall  be  unto 
you  the  stranger  that  sojourn eth  with  you,  and  thou  shalt  love 
him  as  thyself;  for  ye  were  strangers  in  the  land  of  Mizraim : 
I  am  the  Lord  your  God.  35.  Thou  shalt  do  no  wrong  in 
judgment,  in  wand,  in  weight,  and  in  measure.  36.  A  just 
balance,  a  just  weight,  a  just  ephah,  a  just  hin,  shall  ye  have : 

this  earnest  and  urgent  admonition.  The  abhorrence  with  which  the 
Lord  regarded  their  crimes  and  vices  moves  him  to  warn  his  people 
with  all  faithfulness  against  the  special  temptations  to  which  they 
were  about  to  be  exposed  when  they  set  their  eyes  upon  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  doomed  people. 

33-37.  Holiness  toward  the  stranger.  There  is  here  a  retrospect, 
as  well  as  a  prospect.  They  had  been  treated  with  great  harshness 
and  cruelty  by  the  governors  of  Egypt,  where  they  were  strangers. 
When  they  should  reach  a  land  of  their  own,  they  are  to  be  kind  to 
the  stranger,  and  just  to  all  men.  Te  shall  not  oppress  him.  By  your 
recollection  of  the  wrongs  of  the  oppressed,  be  ye  far  from  oppression. 
34,  As  one  born  among  you.  Treat  the  stranger  as  the  home-born, 
and  love  him  as  thyself.  This  is  a  spirit  entirely  contrary  to  the 
principles  of  conduct  which  have  been  often  ascribed  to  the  descendants 
of  Israel.  The  Roman  poet  affirms  that  they  were  taught  non  mons- 
trare  vias  eadem  iiisi  sacra  colenti.  This,  however,  is  a  pure  calumny 
on  the  Hebrew  legislator.  /  am  the  Lord  thy  God.  This  is  the 
watchword  of  the  covenant  of  grace.  It  comes  in  here  to  touch  the 
heart.  Ye  must  be  like  me.  The  appeal  becomes  more  frequent 
and  fervent  as  we  advance.  35,  36.  Even-handed  justice  is  to  char- 
acterize your  whole  dealings.  In  wand,  in  measure  of  length.  In 
measure,  of  capacity.  A  just  weight,  a  just  stone,  a  term  which  we 
retain  to  this  day  among  our  weights.  The  paramount  reason  for 
your  integrity  is  that  you  are  the  holy  people  of  the  Lord.  Hence  it 
is  repeated,  "I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  who  brought  you  out  of  the 
land  of  INIizraim."     The  conclusion  of  the  AS'hole  is  :  "  And  ye  shall 


LEVITICUS  XX.  245 

I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  who  brought  you  out  of  the  land  of 
Mizraim.  37.  And  ye  shall  keep  all  my  statutes  and  all  my 
judgments,  and  do  them :  I  am  the  Lord.  ^ 

keep  all  my  statutes  aud  all  my  judgments,  and  do  them.  I  am  the 
Lord."  It  must  be  confessed  that  this  jDeople  had  ample  instruction 
and  abundant  -n-arning  to  wean  them  from  the  bad  habits  of  Egypt, 
and  guard  them  against  the  worse  temptations  of  Kenaan. 


4.  Idols,  D^"^bx  ,  vanities,  negations  ;  etSwXa,  spectres,  shadows. 

5.  Holy  thing,  "C^p ,  to.  ayia. 

19.  Of  diverse  kinds,  C'xbs ,  two  things  of  different  kinds  :  iripo^vyw^ 
8ta</)opov,  £K  Bvo  v<pa(Tix€vov ;  r.  shut  up,  off.  Linsey-tooolsey,  ^3::3-""j , 
KL^SrjXov,  adulterate.     The  word  appears  to  be  of  Coptic  origin. 

20.  Betrothed,  rS'iM ,  plucked  off,  Sia7re4>vX.ay[X€.vrj. 

26.  Take  omens,  fiirnrn,  olwi'ielaOe.  The  word  occurs  only  in  eleven 
places.  Use  charms,  ^s'lyn,  opvLOoaKOTrrja-ecrOc.  This  is  rendered 
"  observe  times  "  by  Maimonides.  But  the  word  signifying  time  is  of 
later  origin.  The  Rabbis  understand  by  it  fascinating  with  an  evil 
eye.  But  this  rests  on  a  questionable  etymology.  The  word  is  found 
about  nine  times. 

31.  Familiar  spirits,  rhx,  iyyaa-rpifivOot,  ventriloquists  ;  r.  a  bottle 
or  bay.      Wizards,  D'^Si.n'^,  cTraoiSoi;  r.  know. 


XX.    PENALTIES. 

This  chapter  lays  down  the  penalties  for  the  breach  of  certain  reg- 
ulations, mostly  contained  in  the  two  previous  chapters.  The  worship 
of  Molek  and  disobedience  to  j^arents  are  treated  of  in  one  paragraph, 
(1-9).  Sins  of  incest  have  sentence  pronounced  upon  them  in  another 
(10-21).  An  earnest  admonition  followed  by  a  judicial  sentence  on 
dealers  with  infernal  powers  completes  the  chapter  (22-27).  This 
communication  is  made  to  Moses  for  the  jieople. 


246  PENALTIES. 

XX.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  And 
thou  shalt  say  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  Any  man  of  the  sons  of 
Israel,  or  of  the  strangers  that  sojourn  in  Israel,  who  giveth 
of  his  seed  to  Molek  shall  be  put  to  death ;  the  people  of  the 
land  shall  stone  him  with  stones.  3.  And  I  will  set  my  face 
against  that  man,  and  will  cut  him  off  from  among  his  people ; 
for  of  his  seed  he  hath  given  unto  Molek  to  defile  my  sanc- 
tuary and  profane  my  holy  name.     4.  And  if  the  people  of  the 

1-9.  Worshippers  of  Molek  and  clishonorers  of  i:)arents.  2.  Of 
the  sons  of  Israel  or  of  the  strangers.  All  who  dwell  in  the  land  come 
under  this  law.  The  strangers  are  proselytes  to  the  true  religion. 
Who  giveth  of  Ids  seed  to  Molek.  This  has  its  explanation  in  xviii.  21. 
Shall  he  -put  to  death.  The  act  is  a  breach  of  the  first  commandment, 
high  treason  against  heaven.  It  is  not  merely  departing  from  God 
but  doing  homage  to  a  false  god.  It  is,  further,  an  outward  act,  which 
could  most  easily  be  avoided.  It  is,  moreover,  an  offence  against  this 
state  of  which  God  himself  is  the  sovereign.  Tlie  people  of  the  land., 
the  inhabitants  of  the  district  to  which  he  belongs.  Those  who  take 
part  in  executing  the  sentence  will  beware  of-  themselves  committing 
the  offence.  Stone  him  with  stones.  This  was  the  ordinary  mode  of 
capital  punishment  among  the  people  of  Israel.  The  criminal  was 
stripped  and  his  hands  bound.  lie  was  then  thrown  violently  down 
a  steep  twice  the  height  of  a  man  by  one  of  the  witnesses.  If  this 
proved  fatal  the  sentence  was  executed.  But  if  not,  he  was  turned 
on  his  back,  and  a  large  stone  dashed  on  his  breast  by  the  other 
witness,  and  all  the  peojile  that  stood  by  threw  stones  on  him  till  he 
died.  This  was  a  very  solemn  and  awful  mode  of  punishment,  as  all 
the  bystanders  took  part  in  it,  and  thereby  signified  their  condemnation 
of  the  crime.  3.  I  will  set  my  face  against  that  man.  This  is  done 
in  the  preceding  doom.  The  Judge  of  all  the  earth  cannot  do  other- 
wise than  cut  off  the  man  who  not  only  denies  God,  but  sets  up  another 
as  God.  To  defile  my  sanctuary,  by  setting  up  and  honoring  a  rival 
sanctuary.  And  profane  my  holy  name,  by  applying  it  to  anything 
else  real  or  imaginary.  The  name  is  the  sign  of  the  essence  of  God. 
To  ascribe  it,  therefore,  to  any  creature  of  God  or  of  the  human  fancy 


LEVITICUS  XX.  3-9.  247 

land  do  hide  their  eyes  from  that  man,  when  he  giveth  of  his 
seed  to  Molek,  and  do  not  kill  him,  5.  Then  will  I  set  my 
face  against  that  man  and  against  his  family,  and  will  cut  him 
off  and  all  that  lust  after  him,  to  lust  after  Molek,  from  among 
their  people.  6.  And  the  soul  that  turneth  to  familiar  spirits 
and  to  wizards  to  lust  after  them,  I  will  even  set  my  face 
against  that  soul,  and  will  cut  him  off  from  among  his  people. 
7.  And  ye  shall  sanctify  yourselves  and  be  holy :  for  I  am  the 
Lord  your  God.  8.  And  ye  shall  keep  my  statutes  and  do 
them  :  I  am  the  Lord  who  sanctifieth  you.  9.  When  any  man 
curseth  his  father  and  his  mother,  he  shall  be  put  to  death ; 

is  to  profune  it.  This  shows  the  heinousness  of  this  crime.  4,  5.  Those 
who  abet  or  screen  or  fail  to  punish  the  worshippers  of  Molek  partake 
of  his  guilt  and  are  to  share  in  his  doom.  And  against  his  family, 
who  are  tainted  with  his  crime.  And  all  that  lust  after  him,  that 
follow  his  adulterous  example  in  lusting  after  Molek.  The  extreme 
barbarity  as  well  as  the  abject  impurity  of  this  form  of  idolatry  ren- 
dered it  peculiarly  offensive.  6.  Familiar  spirits  and  wizards  have 
been  already  noticed  in  xix.  3L  Those  who  commit  spiritual  forni- 
cation with  them  are  to  be  similarly  punished.  7.  And  ye  shall 
sanctify  yourselves.  Quickened  into  a  new  spiritual  life  they  are  able, 
as  well  as  bound,  to  sanctify  themselves  in  practice  and  be  holy  in 
character.  Many  of  the  people  were  still  doubtless  in  a  carnal  state. 
But  they  had  the  outward  call  of  mercy  and  the  outward  privilege 
of  the  covenant ;  and  if  they  were  living  insensible  to  these  advantages 
and  opportunities,  it  was  at  their  own  peril.  For  I  am  the  Lord 
your  God,  your  Deliverer  and  Quickener  as  well  as  your  Creator  and 
Preserver.  Such  he  really  is  to  the  truly  believing  portion  of  the 
people.  8.  The  natural  consequence  of  sanctification  is  a  holy  life,  a 
spontaneous  obedience.  Keep  my  statutes.  Ye  shall  give  heed  to  my 
written  ordinances.  And  do  them,  not  merely  hear,  attend,  and  ap- 
prove, but  obey.  Who  sanctifieth  you,  the  Lord,  who  quickens  you 
unto  a  new  life  of  holiness  and  happiness,  has  the  right  to  your 
absolute  obedience.     9.   Cursing,  dishonoring,  disobeying  father  and 


248  PENALTIES. 

liG  hath  cursed  his  father  and  his  mother;  his  blood  shall 
be  upon  him. 

10.  And  he  that  committeth  adultery  with  a  man's  wife, 
that  committeth  adultery  with  his  neighbor's  wife,  the  adul- 
terer and  the  the  adulteress  shall  be  put  to  death.  11.  And 
he  that  lieth  with  his  father's  wife  hath  uncovered  his  father's 
nakedness  ;  they  shall  both  be  put  to  death  ;  their  blood  shall 
be  upon  them.  12.  And  if  a  man  lie  with  his  daughter-in-law, 
they  shall  both  be  put  to  death  ;  they  have  wrought  pollution  : 
their  blood  shall  be  upon  them.  13.  And  if  a  man  lie  with  a 
male  as  one  lieth  with  a  woman,  they  have  both  committed  an 
abomination  ;  they  shall  be  put  to  death  ;  their  blood  shall  be 
upon  them.  14.  And  if  a  man  take  a  wife  and  her  mother, 
it  is  lewdness ;  they  shall  burn  with  fire  him  and  them ;  and 

mother  is  a  crime  nigh  unto  ungodliness.  Hence  it  stands  next  our 
duty  to  God  in  the  ten  commandments  and  is  here  subjoined  to  a 
warning  against  idolatry.  The  condemnation  of  disobedience  to 
parents  comes  in  also  appropriately  after  the  injunction  to  be  holy. 
The  penalty  is  death.     His  blood  shall  be  upon  his  own  head. 

10-21.  Penalties  laid  upon  various  kinds  of  incest.  10.  Adultery 
with  another  man's  wife  (xviii.  20),  That  committeth  adultery  with 
a  neighbor's  wife.  The  repetition  of  the  phrase  marks  the  enormity 
of  the  offence.  They  are  both  to  be  put  to  death  in  the  customary 
way,  that  is,  by  stoning.  11.  Adultery  with  a  father's  wife  (xviii. 
7,  8).  This  is  a  more  revolting  form  of  the  generic  crime.  The 
peiialty  is  the  same.  12.  Adultery  with  a  daughter-in-law  (xviii.  15). 
This  is  declared  to  be  pollution,  an  unholy  mixture  or  confusion. 
13.  Sodomy  is  the  crime  here  condemned  (xviii.  22).  It  is  termed 
an  abomination,  a  thing  to  be  regarded  with  abhorrence,  and  to  be 
punished  with  death.  14.  To  take  a  woman  and  her  mother  (xviii. 
17)  is  an  act  of  lewdness,  a  vile  and  wicked  deed.  The  j)artners  in 
it  are  to  be  burned  with  fire.  It  appears  from  Josh.  vii.  15-25,  that 
the  burning  followed  stoning  to  death.  We  find  another  case  in 
which    this    punishment   was    inflicted,  in    the    following    chapter. 


LEVITICUS  XX.  15-19.  249 

there  shall  be  no  lewdness  among  you.  15.  And  the  man 
that  shall  lie  with  a  beast  shall  be  put  to  death ;  and  the  beast 
ye  shall  kill.  16.  And  if  a  woman  approach  to  any  beast  to 
copulate  with  it,  thou  shalt  kill  both  the  woman  and  the  beast ; 
they  shall  be  put  to  death  ;  their  blood  shall  be  upon  them. 
17.  And  if  a  man  take  his  sister,  his  father's  daughter  or  his 
mother's  daughter,  and  see  her  nakedness,  and  she  see  his 
nakedness,  it  is  shame  ;  and  they  shall  be  cut  off  in  the  sight 
of  their  people  :  his  sister's  nakedness  he  hath  uncovered  ;  he 
shall  bear  his  iniquity.  18.  And  if  a  man  lie  with  a  sick 
woman  and  uncover  her  nakedness,  he  hath  made  bare  her 
fountain  and  she  hath  uncovered  the  fountain  of  blood,  and 
they  shall  both  be  cut  off  from  among  their  people.  19.  And 
the  nakedness  of  thy  mother's  sister  or  of  thy  father's  sister 
thou  shalt  not  uncover  ;  for  he  uncovereth  his  near  kin  ;  they 

15.  Carnal  connection  with  a  beast  (xviii.  23).  The  perpetrator  of 
this  horrid  crime  is  to  be  put  to  death,  and  the  beast  to  be  killed. 

16.  The  other  form  of  this  unnatural  crime  (xviii.  23)  is  to  be  pun- 
ished in  the  same  way.  17.  Incest  with  a  sister  (xviii.  9,  11).  This 
is  called  shame  or  infamous  lust.  Both  shall  be  cut  off  from  their 
people  by  stoning.  18.  Lying  with  a  woman  in  her  monthly 
sickness  (xviii.  19)  is  regarded  as  a  crime  deserving  of  the  penalty 
of  death.  For  all  the  forms  of  unnatural  lust  above  enumerated  the 
penalty  of  death  is  required,  and  for  one  the  additional  dishonor  of 
being  burned  after  death. 

19.  We  now  come  to  a  series  of  forbidden  connections  for  which 
the  penalty  is  not  defined.  It  is  merely  stated  that  they  shall  bear 
their  iniquity  or  sin,  and  in  two  of  the  cases  that  they  shall  be  or  die 
heirless.  The  first  is  carnal  connection  with  an  aunt  (xviii.  12,  13). 
Such  a  marriage  is  condemned.  This  is  a  singular  instance  of  im- 
partiality or  the  total  absence  of  personal  bias  in  the  legislator,  as  he 
was  the  son  of  Amram  who  married  his  aunt.  It  is  merely  said  of 
those  who  became  so  connected  that  they  should  bear  their  iniquity. 
But  in  what  way  they  were  to  be  punished  we  are  not  informed,  and 
32 


250  PENALTIES. 

shall  bear  their  iniquity.  20.  And  if  a  man  lie  with  his 
wife's  uncle  he  hath  uncovered  his  uncle's  nakedness  ;  their 
sin  they  shall  bear;  they  shall  die  heirless.  21.  And  if  a  man 
take  his  brother's  wife,  it  is  uncleanness ;  he  hath  uncovered 
his  brother's  nakedness  ;  they  shall  be  heirless. 

22.  And  ye  shall  keep  all  my  statutes  and  all  my  judgments 
and  do  them ;  and  the  land,  whither  I  bring  you  to  dwell  in 
it,  shall  not  spue  you  out.     23.  And  ye  shall  not  walk  in  the 

cannot  decide.  20.  Here  a  matrimonial  connection  with  an  uncle's 
wife  is  forbidden  (xviii.  14).  The  parties  to  it  shall  bear  their  sin. 
They  shall  die  heirless.  This  does  not  mean  that  they  shall  be  put 
to  death,  which  is  otherwise  expressed  in  the  previous  verses ;  nor 
that  they  shall  be  destitute  of  offspring  by  the  visitation  of  heaven ; 
but  that  their  offspring,  if  any,  shall  not  be  counted  to  them,  called 
by  t-heir  name,  or  admitted  as  their  heirs.  The  meaning  heirless  is 
corroborated  by  Gen.  xv.  2  and  Jer.  xxii.  30.  21.  To  take  a  brother's 
wife  is  termed  uncleanness.  Those  who  form  this  forbidden  connection 
shall  be  heirless.  Their  children,  if  they  have  any,  shall  be  heirs  to 
others,  and  they  themselves  shall  be  without  heirs.  Their  name  would 
thus  perish  out  of  Israel,  which  was  accounted  a  disgrace  and  a 
calamity.  Even  in  the  excepted  case  of  a  brother  dying  childless  the 
children  of  the  widow  to  the  surviving  brother  would  be  heirs,  not  to 
him,  but  to  his  deceased  brother.  The  only  cases  in  chap,  xviii.  left 
unnoticed  here  are  those  of  marriage  with  a  granddaughter  and  of 
marriage  with  a  second  wife  while  the  former  one  was  still  alive. 
The  granddaughter  may  be  reasonably  included  under  the  daughter. 
In  this  way  the  only  forbidden  connection  to  which  no  penalty  is 
expressly  annexed  is  that  with  more  than  one  Avife  at  the  same  time. 
Considerable  checks,  however,  were  put  upon  the  practice  by  the  law 
which  secured  all  their  rights  to  the  first  wife  and  her  offspring, 

22-31.  A  closing  admonition  founded  on  the  preceding  legislation. 
22.  This  contains  an  injunction  often  repeated  (xviii.  4,  2G ;  xix.  9, 
37 ;  XX.  7).  The  warning  is  added  that  the  land  may  spue  them  out 
if  disobedient,  as  it  did  their  predecessors.  23.  The  corresponding 
prohibition  now  follows.     The  statutes  of  the  former  inhabitants  are 


LEVITICUS  XX.  23-27.  251 

statutes'  of  the  nations  which  I  cast  out  before  you  ;  for  they 
have  done  all  these  things,  and  I  loathed  them.  24.  And  I 
said  unto  you,  Ye  shall  possess  their  ground,  and  I  will  give 
it  unto  you  to  possess  it,  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey  : 
I  am  the  Lord  your  God  who  have  separated  you  from  the 
nations.  25.  And  ye  shall  separate  between  the  clean  beast 
and  the  unclean,  and  between  the  unclean  fowl  and  the  clean; 
and  ye  shall  not  contaminate  your  souls  with  beast  or  with 
fowl  or  with  anything  that  creepeth  on  the  ground,  which  I 

their  evil  customs,  for  which  they  were  in  the  act  of  being  cast  out, 
because  their  iniquity  was  now  full.  They  have  done  all  these  things, 
which  are  denounced  in  the  preceding  chapters.  TVhen  we  cast  a 
glance  over  the  black  catalogue,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  perpetrators 
excited  the  abhorrence  and  indignation  of  the  High  and  Holy  One. 
24.  Ye  shall  possess,  acquire  by  conquest,  or  gain  possession  of  their 
soil.  The  word  denotes  grasping  or  violent  seizing.  I  will  give  it 
unto  you  to  possess  it.  I  give  you  the  authority  and  the  abihty  to 
obtain  possession  of  it.  A  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  and 
therefore  abounding  in  the  rich  pastures  and  fragrant  flowers  which 
afford  nourishment  for  cattle  and  bees.  The  watchword  of  their 
covenant  with  God  is  now  introduced  with  the  addition  "  who  have 
separated  you  from  the  nations."  God  had  twice  made  known  his 
mercy  and  proclaimed  his  invitations  and  warnings  to  the  whole 
human  family,  first  to  Adam  and  then  to  Noah,  and  twice  they  had 
forsaken  him  and  despised  his  mercy.  Now  he  has  done  a  new  thing. 
He  has  chosen  a  peculiar  people  and  separated  them  from  all  the 
nations,  to  be  unto  him  a  royal  priesthood  and  a  holy  nation,  bearing 
testimony  in  the  midst  of  the  nations  to  his  name  and  grace.  What 
an  inestimable  honor,  what  a  paramount  obligation  to  be  or  belong  to 
such  a  people.  25.  And  ye  shall  separate.  As  I  have  separated  you 
from  all  nations,  you  are  to  separate  the  clean  from  the  unclean  in 
all  things  according  to  my  word.  Ye  shall  not  contaminate  your  souls, 
your  sensuous,  susceptible  part,  which  is  the  inlet  of  all  temptations 
and  from  which,  therefore,  comes  the  danger  of  all  sin.  Which  I  have 
sejKirated  for  you.     This  raises  the  distinction  above  all  mere  will- 


252  PENALTIES. 

have  separated  for  you  as  uncleau.  26.  And  ye  shall  be  holy 
unto  me,  for  I  the  Lord  am  holy :  and  I  separated  you  from 
the  nations  to  be  mine.  27.  And  the  man  or  woman  that 
shall  have  a  familiar  spirit  or  be  a  wizard  shall  be  put  to 
death  ;  they  shall  stone  them  with  stones ;  their  blood  shall  be 
upon  them.  31  ^  <^  <1[ 

worship  and  puts  it  upon  the  ground  of  compliance  with  a  divine 
command,  a  command  which  contains  within  it  a  deep  spiritual 
significance.  26.  The  precept  of  holiness  is  now  repeated  as  the 
conclusion  of  the  whole  matter.  Separated  you  from  the  nations 
to  be  mine.  To  be  his  is  the  very  essence  of  the  great  honor  of 
being  separate.  It  touches  the  heart  and  awakens  the  affections. 
27.  Nothing  could  be  more  adverse  to  such  lofty  devotedness  to  God, 
than  seeking  after  familiar  spirits  or  the  infernal  arts  of  the  wizard 
(xix.  31).  Such  were  very  prevalent  in  the  country  to  which  they 
were  advancing.  The  stern  sentence  is  that  they  should  be  put  to 
death  by  stoning,  and  their  blood  will  be  upon  their  own  head. 
These  emphatic  and  affectionate  lessons  to  the  chosen  people  were 
not  in  vain.  They  did  not,  indeed,  extirpate  evil  from  the  hearts 
of  all.  But  they  effected  a  mighty  change  in  the  moral  nature  of  the 
great  bulk  of  the  nation.  They  told  also  on  the  successive  generations 
of  Israel  and  produced  beautiful  and  attractive  examples  of  piety 
towards  God  and  goodwill  to  men.  And  they  are  telling  to  this  day 
on  a  constantly  increasing  portion  of  the  race  of  man. 

This  completes  the  series  of  regulations  applying  chiefly  to  the  civil 
life  of  the  Israelites  in  the  country  to  which  he  was  going.  With  the 
exception  of  some  reference  to  the  camp  in  chap,  xvii.,  they  all  look 
forward  to  the  land  of  the  nations  whom  they  were  to  dispossess  on 
account  of  their  abounding  iniquity.  These  chapters,  we  see,  are  ar- 
ranged on  a  regular  plan.  Purity  in  food,  purity  in  wedlock,  holiness  in 
converse  with  God  and  man  follow  in  orderly  succession.  To  these 
chapters  is  added  a  fourth  embodying  the  sanctions  of  the  enactments 
which  they  contain.  The  whole  has  pointed  reference  to  the  vice  and 
immorality  of  the  country  to  which  they  were  approaching,  and  forms 
a  seasonable  and  faithful  warning  to  the  people  on  the  eve  of  coming 
into  contact  with  a  nation  that  had  filled  up  the  measure  of  its  iniquity 


SECTION  v.  — RULES   CONCERNING  RELIGIOUS 
MATTERS. 

XXI.    CONCERNING  THE  PRIESTS. 

XXL  1.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Say  unto  the 
priests,  Aaron's  sons.  Say  thus  unto  them,  none  shall  be  defiled 
for  the  dead  among  his  people.     2.    But  for  his  kin  that  is 

This  section  consists  of  four  chapters  relating  to  religions  matters. 
They  follow  a  plain  and  natural  order,  treating  of  the  priests,  the 
offerings,  the  days,  and  the  dwelling  of  God.  They  are  preparatory, 
like  the  preceding  four,  for  the  settled  life  of  the  people  when  they 
have  entered  into  possession  of  the  land  of  promise.  The  present 
chapter  contains  two  brief  communications  addressed  to  Moses  for 
Aaron  and  his  sons.  The  first  refers  to  the  sanctity  to  be  maintained 
by  the  priests  in  their  personal  relations  to  others,  and  consists  of 
two  parts ;  the  first  apjilying  to  the  priests  in  general  (1-9)  ;  the 
second  to  the  high-priest  in  particular  (10-15).  The  second  com- 
munication refers  to  the  personal  qualities  of  the  priests  (16-24). 

1-9.  Regulations  guarding  the  sanctity  of  the  priests  in  their  inter- 
course with  others.  1-6.  These  verses  refer  to  the  avoidance  in 
certain  cases  of  defilement  by  a  dead  body.  1.  No  one,  priest.  De- 
filed for  the  dead,  for  a  soul  departed  (six.  28),  whose  body  defiled 
not  only  him  who  touched  it,  but  the  tent  in  which  it  lay  (Num.  xix. 
11,  14).  Among  his  people,  in  the  circle  of  his  family  or  neighbor- 
hood. The  ties  of  kindred  and  the  civilities  of  social  life  call  for 
services  in  the  case  of  a  death  which  often  involve  ceremonial  un- 
cleanness.  But  the  priests,  on  account  of  their  office,  are  to  be 
excused  from  these.  2.  Six  cases  are  expressly  excepted,  in  which 
he  may  take  part  in  the  duties  owing  to  the  dead.     His  wife  is  added 


254  CONCERNING  THE  PRIESTS. 

near  unto  him,  for  his  mother  and  for  his  father  and  for  his 
son  and  for  his  daughter  and  for  his  brother  :  3.  And  for  his 
sister,  the  maiden  that  is  near  unto  him,  who  hath  not  a  hus- 
band, for  her  he  may  be  defiled,  4.  A  master  among  his 
people  he  shall  not  be  defiled,  to  profane  himself.  5.  They 
shall  not  make  baldness  upon  their  head,  and  the  corner  of 
their  chin  they  shall  not  shave  off,  nor  make  any  cut  in  their 
flesh.  6.  They  shall  be  holy  unto  their  God,  and  not  profane 
the  name  of  their  God  ;  for  the  fire-offering  of  the  Lord,  the 


by  some  (Keil)  as  a  seventh,  on  the  ground  that  she  is  his  own  flesh 
(Gen.  ii.  24),  and  is  therefore  inchided  in  himself,  and  nearer  than 
all  other  relatives.  3.  An  unmarried  sister  who  still  dwells  with  her 
father  is  included.  But  when  married  and  away  she  belongs  to 
another  home  and  kin.  4.  A  master  among  his  people,  the  head  of  a 
house,  and  there  surrounded  by  servants,  relatives,  and  neighbors, 
who  would  have  a  natural  claim  on  his  kind  attentions.  But,  being 
a  priest,  he  is  to  refrain  from  all  unnecessary  contact  with  the  dead, 
lest  by  incurring  defilement  he  should  profane  himself,  and  so  be 
rendered  unfit  for  the  discharge  of  his  sacred  duties.  This  appears  to 
be  the  obvious  meaning  of  this  much-contested  sentence.  It  is  that 
given  by  "Willet.  5.  Disfigurement  of  the  person  on  account  of  the 
dead  is  forbidden  to  the  priests.  Three  kinds  of  it  are  mentioned. 
Baldness  upon  their  head.  Making  a  bald  place  on  the  front  of  the 
head  between  the  eyes  is  again  mentioned  in  Deut.  xiv.  1 .  The  corner 
of  the  chin.  Shaving  the  corner  of  the  chin  and  making  cuts  in  the 
flesh  have  already  been  forbidden  to  all  Israelites  (xix.  27  f.).  6.  Tliey 
shall  be  holy.  The  great  principle  is  now  enunciated  that  the  priests 
shall  be  holy  unto  their  God.  They  could  not  otherwise  be  fit  to 
present  the  symbols  representing  the  great  atonement.  They  could 
not  be  suitable  types  of  the  true  High-Priest  between  God  and  man. 
And  not  profane  the  name  of  their  God.  The  essence  of  God  and  all 
that  is  connected  with  his  will  and  worship  must  be  kept  from  pro- 
fanity. The  f  re-offerings.  These  represent  propitiation.  Every- 
thing burnt  on  the  altar  is  a  sweet  smell,  a  thing  acceptable.     TJie 


LEVITICUS  XXI.   7-10.  255 

bread  of  their  God,  they  o£fer,  and  they  shall  be  holy.  7.  They 
shall  not  take  a  wife  that  is  a  harlot  or  profane,  nor  shall  they 
take  a  woman  put  away  from  her  husband ;  for  he  is  holy 
unto  his  God.  8.  And  thou  shalt  sanctify  him  ;  for  he  offereth 
the  bread  of  thy  God :  he  shall  be  holy  unto  thee :  for  I  the 
Lord  who  sanctify  you  am  holy.  9.  And  the  daughter  of  a 
priest,  when  she  profaneth  herself  to  be  a  harlot,  she  profaneth 
her  father  ;  she  shall  be  burned  with  fire.  § 

10.  And  the  high-priest  among  his  brethren,  upon  whose 
head  the  anointing  oil  was  poured,  and  whose  hand  was  filled 

bread  of  God,  a  parallel  phrase,  importing  the  same  thicg.  7-9.  This 
passage  refers  to  purity  in  the  family  relations.  A  priest  is  not  to 
marry  a  harlot,  a  profane  or  dishonored  woman,  or  a  divorced  woman. 
He  is  therefore  restricted  to  a  virgin  or  a  widow  of  irreproachable 
character  from  any  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  (xxii.  12).  He  is  holy  unto 
his  God,  and  must  therefore  form  a  holy  affinity.  8.  Thou  shalt 
sanctify  him.  This  is  addressed  to  the  governing  power  in  sacred 
things  for  the  time  being.  He  offereth  the  bread  of  thy  God.  This 
is  a  matter  of  vital  consequence  to  the  Israelite.  The  priest  was  his 
present  mediator  with  God.  He  must  be  kept  pure.  Hence  this 
admonition  seems  to  be  addressed  to  the  magistrate  in  this  theocratic 
state,  who  was  to  protect  the  priest  in  all  the  rights  of  his  office,  and 
take  order  that  due  diligence  was  shown  in  the  discharge  of  its  duties. 
He  shall  ht  holy  unto  thee.  Thou  shalt  see  to  it  that  he  is  holy,  so  far 
as  it  lies  in  thy  power  to  further  this  end.  /  the  Lord  who  sanctify 
you.  This  state  is  a  holy  nation,  a  kingdom,  indeed,  of  priests.  It  is 
bound  to  take  measures  that  its  priesthood  be  holy.  9.  The  daughter 
of  a  priest,  if  she  play  the  harlot,  is  especially  guilty.  She  profanes 
her  father,  as  well  as  herself.  She  brings  dishonor  and  reproach 
upon  him  and  his  office.  She  is  to  be  burned  with  fire,  that  is,  put  to 
death  by  stoning,  and  the  body  then  burned. 

10-15.  The  sanctity  of  the  high-priest.  10-12.  These  verses 
guard  against  defilement  by  the  dead.  10.  The  high-priest  is  here 
distinguished  by  two  properties.     The  anointing  oil  was  poured  upon 


256  CONCERNING  THE  PRIESTS. 

to  put  on  the  garments,  shall  not  bare  his  head  nor  rend  his 
garments ;  11.  Nor  shall  he  go  in  to  any  dead  body  ;  for  his 
father  or  for  his  mother  he  shall  not  defile  himself.  12.  Nor 
shall  he  go  out  of  the  sanctuary  nor  profane  the  sanctuary  of 
his  God  ;  for  the  consecration  of  the  anointing  oil  of  his  God 
is  upon  him :  I  am  the  Lord.  13.  And  he  shall  take  a  wife 
in  her  virginity.  14.  A  widow  and  a  divorced  woman  and  a 
profane  one  and  a  harlot,  these  he  shall  not  take  ;  but  a  virgin 
of  his  people  shall  he  take  to  wife.     15.  And  he  shall  not  pro- 


his  head  (viii.  12),  pointing  to  his  moral  perfection.  WTiose  hand 
was  Jilled  to  put  on  the  garments.  Two  qualities  are  here  curiously 
combined  into  one.  The  filling  of  the  hands  (viii.  22-28)  was  the 
ordination  of  the  high-priest  to  his  office.  He  was  thereby  entitled 
to  put  on  the  garments  of  his  royal  priesthood.  This  proj^hetic  and 
regal  priest  was  not  to  bare  his  head  nor  rend  his  garments  in 
mourning  for  the  dead  (x.  6).  These  acts  would  be  inconsistent  with 
the  holiness  of  his  character,  as  well  as  with  the  very  purport  of  his 
office,  which  was  to  abolish  death,  and  make  an  end  of  sin  by  an  all- 
sufficient  propitiation  and  an  everlasting  righteousness.  11.  lie  shall 
not  defile  himself,  even  for  his  father  or  his  mother.  The  transcendent 
interests  of  salvation,  which  depend  on  his  purity  and  perfection,  are 
not  to  be  endangered  or  abandoned  for  the  outward  forms  of  an  earthly 
affliction.  12.  He  shall  not  leave  his  sacred  duties  in  the  sanctuary, 
nor  profane  it  by  incurring  any  defilement  which  would  mar  their 
efficacy  or  acceptance.  The  consecration  ^^  of  the  anointing  oil.  He 
is  consecrated  unto  God,  a  holy  mediator.  To  desecrate  him  is  to 
defeat  the  mediation,  and  leave  the  breach  between  God  and  man 
still  unrepaired.  13-15.  This  paragraph  relates  to  sanctity  in  en- 
tering the  married  state.  There  is  no  greater  proof  that  marriage 
was  regarded  as  holy  than  the  permission  extended  to  the  high-priest 
to  marry.  13.  He  shall  marry  a  virgin.  14.  Not  a  widow,  a  di- 
vorced, or  a  profane  woman,  nor  a  harlot,  but  a  virgin  of  his  own 
people,  of  any  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  (xxii.  12).  15.  He  shall  not 
profane  his  seed  by  contracting  an  unsuitable  marriage,  or  otherwise. 


LEVITICUS  XXI.  15-21.  257 

fane  his  seed  among  his  people  ;  for  I  the  Loed  do  sanctify 
him.  § 

16.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  17.  Speak 
unto  Aaron,  saying,  No  man  of  thy  seed  in  their  generations 
that  hath  any  blemish  shall  draw  near  to  offer  the  bread  of  his 
God.  18.  For  no  man  that  hath  a  blemish  shall  draw  near, 
blind  or  lame  or  flat-nosed  or  long-eared.  19.  Or  a  man  that 
hath  a  broken  foot  or  a  broken  hand.  20.  Or  hump-backed 
or  wasted  or  pearl-eyed  or  scurvy  or  scabby  or  broken-stoned. 
21.  No  man  having  a  blemish  of  the  seed  of  Aaron  the  priest 

I  the  Lord  do  sanctify  Mm.     He  owes  his  high  and  holy  position  to 
me.     He  owes  himself  in  the  highest  possible  relations  to  me. 

16-24.  Personal  defects  that  excluded  from  the  priestly  office. 
16.  This  is  a  distinct  communication.  17.  TJiat  hath  any  hlemish. 
If  the  victim  was  to  be  perfect,  so  must  the  priest  be.  In  the  great 
High-Priest,  victim  and  priest  are  one,  and  must  be  holy,  harmless  and 
undefiled.  Draw  near}''  Only  the  holy  can  approach  the  holy. 
The  victim  is  offered,  made  to  draw  near.  The  priest  draws  near. 
The  great  High-Priest  being  both  priest  and  victim,  is  both  active  and 
passive  in  his  work  of  mediation.  To  offer  the  hread.  The  bread  is 
the  food,  that  which  is  burned  on  the  altar  or  eaten  by  the  priests  of 
the  offerings,  whether  animal  or  vegetable.  It  represents  the  perfect 
righteousness  which  is  acceptable  to  God,  and  effects  propitiation  as 
distinct  from  expiation.  Hence  it  comes  in  here  appropriately.  18-20. 
The  blemishes  are  now  enumerated.  Blind  or  lame.  About  these 
there  is  no  dispute.  They  are  manifest  disqualifications.  Flat-nosed 
or  long-eared}^  These  are  by  some  made  more  general ;  having  any 
member  too  small  or  too  great.  These  are  disfigurements.  A  hrohen 
foot  or  a  hrohen  hand.  These  render  a  man  unfit  for  service.  Hump- 
backed or  wasted.^  The  latter  is  contrasted  with  the  former,  and  is 
understood  to  refer  to  extreme  thinness  or  leanness  of  flesh  or  limb. 
Pearl-eyed,^  having  a  speck  or  stain  in  the  eye.  Scurvy  or  scabby. 
These  terms  denote  those  who  are  affected  with  cutaneous  diseases. 
21.  None  of  these  is  to  take  part  in  the  presentation  of  the  fire-offer- 
ings of  the  Lord.  The  fire-offerings,  like  the  bread,  denote  that  which 
33 


258  CONCERNING  THE  PRIESTS. 

shall  come  nigh  to  offer  the  fire-offerings  of  tlie  Lord  ;  he  hath 
a  blemish  ;  he  shall  not  draw  nigh  to  offer  the  bread  of  his 
God.  22.  He  shall  eat  the  bread  of  his  God,  of  the  most  holy 
and  of  the  holy.  23.  Only  unto  the  veil  he  shall  not  go,  nor 
draw  nigh  unto  the  altar  ;  for  he  hath  a  blemish  ;  and  he  shall 
not  profane  my  holy  things ;  for  I  the  Lord  do  sanctify  them. 
24.  And  Moses  spake  to  Aaron  and  to  his  sons  and  to  all  the 
sons  of  Israel.  ^ 

propitiates.  They  constitute  "  a  sweet  smell "  unto  the  Lord.  22.  But 
he  is  permitted  to  eat  of  the  most  holy  and  the  holy  parts  of  the  offer- 
ings whicla  are  assigned  of  the  Lord  to  his  priests.  23.  Unto  the  veil, 
however,  or  unto  the  altar  he  shall  not  go,  because  he  has  a  blemish. 
A  priest  with  a  blemish  would  profane  the  holy  things  and  places,  the 
veil  and  the  altar.  24.  Moses  communicated  these  regulations  to  the 
priests  and  the  people. 

The  priests  are  thus  guarded  from  defilement  by  the  dead,  from  dis- 
honor by  an  unworthy  affinity,  and  from  unfitness  by  personal  defect. 
These  qualifications  are  all  proper  in  themselves,  and  especially  be- 
coming in  those  who  are  to  bear  the  vessels  of  the  Lord,  who  are  to 
be  distinguished  by  an  unblemished  moral  character.  They  point, 
however,  to  the  spiritual  characteristics  of  holiness,  patience  and  activ- 
ity, which  are  to  distinguish  the  true  servant  of  God  and  Redeemer 
of  his  people.  Absolute  holiness  must  be  found  in  him  who  is  to 
mediate  with  the  Holy  One  for  the  unholy.  Patience  is  an  indispens- 
able quality  of  him  who  is  to  submit  to  die  for  sinners,  to  suffer  the 
loss  of  all  things,  endure  the  contradiction  of  sinners,  and  be  at  length 
the  victim  for  the  sins  of  others.  Activity  is  also  a  needful  quality  in 
him  who  is  to  volunteer  the  performance  of  all  the  duties  of  a  kinsman 
and  of  a  righteousness  which  earns  the  blessings  of  eternal  life. 

KOTES. 

12.    Consecration,  ^1} ,  ?,eT^^vz,i\or\,  ayiov,  V.  separate. 

17.  Draw  near,  l^np?"^;  offer,  bring  near,  a'^lp!; ;  offering,  "(2'i|5. 

18.  Flat-nosed,  Q'ln,  contracted,  KoXofSopiv ;  r.  shut  in,  contract, 
withhold  from  common  use.     Long-eared,  ?1"ib,  stretched,  toroTfiriTos. 

20.  Hump-hached,  'aS,  bent,  bowed,  Kupros.  Wasted,  p'n,  e^r/Xos. 
Pearl-eyed,  ii"^??  biian ,  stained  in  his  eye,  tttiXXos  tovs  6(f>0a\fjiovs. 


LEVITICUS  XXII.  1-3.  259 


XXn.    CONCERNING  THE  OFFERINGS. 

XXII.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  Speak 
unto  Aaron  and  to  his  sons,  and  they  shall  separate  themselves 
from  the  holy  things  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  not  profane  my 
holy  name  in  what  they  hallow  unto  me  :  I  am  the  Lord. 
3.  Say  unto  them.  Any  man  of  all  your  seed  in  your  genera- 
tions that  draweth  nigh  to  the  holy  things  which  the  sons  of 
Israel  hallow  unto  the  Lord,  having  his  uncleanness  upon  him, 
that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  before  me :    I  am  the  Lord. 


This  chapter  is  parallel  to  the  former.  As  that  refers  to  the  priest, 
so  this  to  the  offering.  It  consists  of  three  communications  made  to 
Moses  for  Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  the  last  two  for  the  people  also. 
The  first  determines,  on  the  one  hand,  who  of  the  priests  are  not  to 
touch  the  offerings  (1-9),  and,  on  the  other  hand,  who  besides  the 
priests  are  to  partake  of  them  (10-1 G).  The  second  determines  the 
qualities  of  the  victims  suitable  for  offering  (17-25).  The  third  lays 
down  certain  conditions  to  be  observed  even  with  suitable  victims 
(26-33). 

1-9.  Who  of  the  priests  are  not  to  touch  the  holy  things  of  the 
Lord.  2.  They  shall  separate  themselves,  when  they  labor  under 
any  disability,  such  as  is  afterwards  described.  From  the  holy  things, 
those  parts  of  the  sacrifice  which  were  reserved  from  the  fire  for  the 
priests  (Num.  xviii.  11-19,  26-29).  And  not  profane  my  holy  name. 
The  holy  things  consecrated  to  the  Lord  by  the  sons  of  Israel  remained 
truly  and  always  his.  The  consuming  of  certain  parts  of  them  by  his 
priests  was  only  one  of  the  ways  in  which  he  expressed  his  acceptance. 
The  eating  of  them  by  the  priests  was  therefore  a  holy  and  solemn 
act,  in  which  the  Lord  accepted  the  sacrifice  of  his  people  and  the 
people  themselves.  Hence  to  touch  them  wdth  unclean  hands  was  to 
profane  the  name  of  the  Lord.  /  am  the  Lord.  This  is  appended 
as  the  seal  and  sanction  of  the  rule.  3.  The  unclean,  therefore,  are 
to  stand  aloof  from  the  holy  food,  on  pain  of  excommunication.     This 


260  CONCEENING  THE  OFFERINGS. 

4.  No  man  of  the  seed  of  Aaron  that  is  leprous  or  hath  a  flux 
shall  eat  of  the  holy  things  until  he  be  clean ;  and  he  that 
toucheth  anything  unclean  by  the  dead,  or  a  man  whose  seed 
goeth  from  him,  5.  Or  he  that  toucheth  any  creeper  for  which 
he  is  unclean,  or  a  man  for  whom  he  is  unclean  after  all 
his  uncleanness.  6.  The  soul  that  toucheth  any  such  shall  be 
unclean  until  the  even  ;  and  he  shall  not  eat  of  the  holy  things, 
but  shall  wash  his  flesh  in  water.  7.  And  the  sun  shall  set, 
and  he  shall  be  clean  ;  and  then  he  shall  eat  of  the  holy  things  ; 
for  it  is  his  food.  8.  Tlie  dead  and  the  torn  he  shall  not  eat 
to  be  defiled  thereby  :  I  am  the  Lord.  9.  And  they  shall 
keep  my  charge,  and  shall  not  bear  sin  for  it  and  die  by  it, 
when  they  profane  it :  I  am  the  Lord  who  sanctify  you. 

10.  And  no  stranger  shall  eat  of  the  holy  thing :  a  sojourner 

is  followed  as  usual  by  the  sign  and  seal  of  the  Lord.  4.  He  that  is 
a  leper  or  has  an  issue  is  not  to  partake  of  the  holy  things  till  he  be 
clean,  and  has  gone  through  the  process  described  in  several  parts  of 
chapters  xiii.,  xiv.,  and  xv.  4-6.  He  that  touches  anything  unclean  by 
the  dead  (xix.  28)  or  whose  seed  flows  from  him  (xv.  16,  18),  or  who 
touches  a  reptile  or  another  man  that  is  unclean  in  any  way,  shall  be 
unclean  until  the  evening.  7.  Having  washed  his  flesh  in  water  he 
shall  be  clean  when  the  sun  is  down,  and  may  eat.  8.  The  prohibition 
concerning  the  dead  and  the  torn  (xvii.  15,  16),  applies  with  peculiar 
emphasis  to  the  priests.  9.  Keep  my  charge.  This  is  an  old  and 
venerable  phrase  first  addressed  to  Abraham  (Gen.  xxvi.  5),  then  to 
Aaron  and  his  sons  (viii.  35),  then  to  the  Levites  (Num.  iii.  7),  and 
lastly  to  all  Israel  as  a  kingdom  of  priests  (Num.  ix.  19).  And  shall 
not  hear  sin  for  it,  the  holy  thing,  which  would  otherwise  have  been 
defiled  and  desecrated.  And  die  by  it.  If  the  propitiation  be  made 
void,  the  power  of  death  returns,  because  its  right  revives  against  the 
transgressor.  The  significant  sentence  is  then  added,  "I  am  the 
Lord  who  sanctify  you." 

10-16.  Who  besides  the  priests  are  to  partake  of  the  holy  things. 
10.  No  stranger.     A  stranger  here  is  one  who  does  not  belong  to  the 


LEVITICUS  XXII.  10-14.  261 

with  the  priest  and  a  hireling  shall  not  eat  of  the  holy  thing. 
11.  And  when  the  priest  acquires  a  soul,  the  purchase  of  his 
money,  he  sliall  eat  of  it ;  and  he  that  is  born  in  his  house ; 
they  shall  eat  of  his  food.  12.  And  when  the  priest's  daughter 
is  married  to  a  stranger  she  may  not  eat  of  the  holy  offering. 
13.  But  when  the  priest's  daughter  is  a  widow  or  divorced  and 
hath  no  child,  and  hath  returned  to  her  father's  house  as  in  her 
youth,  she  shall  eat  of  her  father's  bread ;  but  no  stranger 
shall  eat  of  it.    14.  And  when  a  man  eateth  of  the  holy  thing  in 


priestly  family.  A  sojourner  is  not  a  member  of  the  family  ;  neither 
is  a  hireling,  who  merely  comes  to  labor  day  by  day.  11.  ^  soul  the 
purchase  of  his  money.  Serfdom  existed  among  the  Israelites.  A  man 
became  a  serf  by  the  sentence  of  the  judge,  by  the  chance  of  war,  or 
by  the  act  of  his  own  will.  The  last  mode  indicates  that  serfdom  in 
Israel  was  something  very  diflferent  from  Gentile  or  modern  slavery. 
Its  limitations  are  laid  down  in  Ex.  xxi.  2-11,  to  the  remarks  on 
which  we  refer,  and  in  Lev.  xxv.  10,  39-55.  A  serf  might  be  trans- 
ferred from  one  master  to  another  by  purchase.  He  shall  eat  of  it. 
Hence  we  find  that  the  serf  is  counted  a  member  of  the  priest's  family 
and  may  partake  of  the  holy  fare.  The  same  rule  applies  to  the 
passover  (Ex.  xii.  44),  He  that  is  horn  in  his  house.  This  includes, 
and  indeed  specially  refers  to,  the  offspring  of  the  serf,  12,  13.  The 
priest's  daughter,  \i  unmarried,  belongs  to  the  priest's  family  by  right 
of  birth,  and  partakes  of  his  fare ;  but  when  married  to  a  stranger  she 
belongs  to  a  family  not  connected  with  the  priesthood,  and  therefore 
is  not  entitled  to  partake  of  thp  holy  things.  "We  learn  from  xxi. 
7,  14  and  from  the  present  verse  that  the  priests  were  permitted  to 
marry  a  wife  out  of  any  of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  and  that  a  priest's 
daughter  might  be  married  to  an  Israelite  of  any  tribe.  If,  however, 
she  returns  to  her  father's  house  a  childless  widow,  she  becomes  again 
a  member  of  his  family.  If  she  have  children  it  is  to  be  understood 
that  she  has  still  a  home  and  a  possession  to  which  her  children  are 
heirs.  But  no  stranger  shall  eat  of  it.  After  making  the  needful 
exceptions  all  others  are  excluded,     14.  The  layman  that  eats  of  the 


262  CONCEKNING  THE  OFFERINGS. 

error,  then  he  shall  add  a  fifth  of  it  to  it,  and  give  the  holy  thing 
to  the  priest.  15.  And  they  sliall  not  profane  the  holy  things 
of  the  sons  of  Israel,  which  they  heave  up  unto  the  Lord  ; 
16.  Nor  bring  upon  them  tlie  iniquity  of  trespass  when  they 
eat  their  holy  things :  for  I  am  the  Lord  who  sanctify  them.  ^ 
17.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  18.  Speak 
unto  Aaron  and  to  his  sons  and  unto  all  the  sons  of  Israel, 

holy  food  in  error  is  simply  to  restore  an  equivalent  for  the  holy 
thing  with  the  addition  of  a  fifth  part  to  it.  15.  Not  profane  the  holy 
things  of  the  sons  of  Israel.  They  were  in  God's  stead  in  this  act. 
On  his  i^art  they  accepted  the  offering  and  the  offerer  in  the  act  of 
partaking  the  former.  This  solemn  and  significant  act  was  not  to  be 
rendered  null  and  void  by  any  unworthy  or  unwarranted  partaker. 
Which  they  heave  up.  They  were  not  laid  on  the  altar  and  burnt  with 
fire  like  the  flesh  of  the  whole-sacrifice,  the  fat  of  the  peace-offering, 
or  the  memorial  of  the  oblation,  but  lifted  up  in  token  of  being  dedi- 
cated to  the  Lord,  and  given  to  the  priests  to  be  eaten.  This  is  called 
heaving.  16.  Nor  bring  upon  them.  This  is  a  continuation  of  the 
preceding  verse.  Unworthy  or  inadmissible  partakers  brought  upon 
the  people  the  iniquity  of  trespass  by  their  partaking.  Trespass  is 
righteousness  unperformed.  The  trespass-offering  represents  this 
righteousness  performed  by  the  substitute.  Now  such  partakers 
nullified  the  propitiation,  which  the  proper  partakers  woukl  have 
accepted  on  the  part  of  God.  They  left  the  people,  therefore,  still 
under  the  debt  of  righteousness,  which  the  propitiation  was  to  have 
discharged.  They  were  bound  to  make  amends  for  this  fatal  conse- 
quence of  their  unlawful  partaking.  The  mode  of  making  redress 
appears  to  be  indicated  in  vs.  14,  The  equivalent  of  the  holy  thing 
with  an  added  fifth  was  to  be  presented.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that 
the  evil  consequence  which  their  act  was  calculated  to  produce  would 
fall  not  on  the  worshipper,  but  on  the  intruder.  The  inadvertent 
trespasser  is  therefore  to  make  amends. 

17-25.  The  qualities  of  victims  suitable  for  offering.  This  is  the 
second  commmunication  of  this  chapter.  18-20.  And  unto  all  the  sons 
of  Israel.     It  concerns  not  only  Aaron  and  his  sons,  but  all  the  people, 


LEVITICUS  XXII.  18-22.  263 

and  say  unto  tliem,  If  any  man  of  the  house  of  Israel  or  of  tho 
strangers  in  Israel  will  bring  his  offering,  for  all  tlieir  vows 
and  for  all  their  gifts  which  they  offer  unto  the  Lord  for  a 
burnt-sacrifice,  19.  For  your  acceptance  it  shall  be  a  perfect 
male  of  the  herd,  of  the  sheep  or  of  the  goats.  20.  Any  that 
hath  a  blemish  ye  shall  not  offer  ;  for  it  shall  not  be  accepted 
for  you.  21.  And  when  a  man  offers  a  sacrifice  of  peace  unto 
the  Lord,  to  set  apart  a  vow,  or  foi"  a  gift,  of  the  cattle  or  of  the 
sheep,  it  shall  be  perfect  for  acceptance  ;  no  blemish  shall  be 
in  it.     22.  Blind  or  broken  or  maimed  or  ulcerous  or  scurvy 

A  stranger  in  Israel,  as  well  as  an  Israelite,  may  offer  a  burnt-sacrifice. 
The  stranger  in  Israel  has  either  submitted  to  circumcision,  and  so 
has  been  incorporated  into  the  holy  nation  as  a  proselyte  of  righteous- 
ness, or  merely  acknowledges  the  true  God  without  being  circumcised, 
in  which  case  he  was  called  a  proselyte  of  the  gate.  For  all  their 
vows  and  for  all  their  gifts.  Vows  and  gifts  are  introduced  under  the 
head  of  sacrifices  of  peace  in  vii.  IG.  The  Sept.  renders  the  words 
"  in  all  their  confession  and  in  all  their  choice,"  '^  which  brings  the 
whole  into  harmony  with  the  closing  word  "for  a  burnt-sacrifice." 
The  Rabbis,  on  the  other  hand,  affirm  that  Gentiles  ofieriug  a  peace- 
sacrifice  burnt  the  whole  on  the  altar  as  a  whole  or  burnt-sacrifice.  But 
this  does  not  meet  the  case  of  the  son  of  Israel,  nor  of  the  proselyte 
of  righteousness.  The  real  explanation  seems  to  be  this :  that  a  vow 
or  gift  may  be  either  a  sacrifice  of  peace  or  a  whole  burnt-sacrifice, 
according  to  the  will  of  the  worshipper.  In  vii.  16  the  sacrifice  of 
peace  was  spoken  of;  in  this  verse  the  burnt-sacrifice  is  meant  and 
expressed.  For  your  acceptance,  in  order  that  you  and  your  sacrifice 
may  be  accepted.  A  perfect  male.  A  male,  because  it  was  a  burnt- 
sacrifice  (i.  3).  Perfect,  because  it  is  to  propitiate,  or  to  represent  the 
Holy  One  who  is  to  propitiate.  A  perfect  male  or  female  was  allowed 
for  a  peace-offering  (iii.  1).  An  impei-fect  victim  will  not  in  any  case 
be  accepted  as  sacrifice.  21.  A  sacrifice  of  peace,  under  which  is  also 
included  a  vow  or  a  gift,  must  be  perfect  in  order  to  be  accepted.  To 
set  apart,  separate,  devote.  22.  The  blemishes  are  now  enumerated. 
Broken  in  limb.      Ulcerous,"  having  an  abcess  or  running  sore.     I^or 


264  CONCEKNING  THE  OFFERINGS. 

or  scabby,  ye  shall  not  offer  these  unto  the  Lord,  nor  present 
a  fire-offering  of  them  upon  the  altar  unto  the  Lord.  23.  And 
a  bullock  or  a  lamb  that  hath  anything  too  large  or  too  small, 
thou  mayest  make  a  gift  of  it,  but  for  a  vow  it  shall  not  be 
accepted.  24.  And  the  bruised  or  crushed  or  torn  or  cut  ye 
shall  not  offer  unto  the  Lord  ;  nor  in  your  land  shall  ye  make 
such.  25.  Nor  from  the  hand  of  a  stranger  shall  ye  offer  the 
bread  of  your  God  of  any  of  these ;  for  their  corruption  in 
them  is  a  blemish  in  them;  they  shall  not  be  accepted  for 
you.  § 

26.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  27.  Wben 
an  ox,  a  sheep,  or  a  goat  is  bronght  forth  it  shall  be  seven  days 
under  its  dam  ;  and  from  the  eighth  day  and  onwards  it  shall 
be  accepted  for  an  offering  by  fire  unto  the  Lord.     28.  And 

present  a  jire-offering.  This  is  specially  mentioned,  because  the  part 
burned  on  the  altar  represents  propitiation  by  a  perfect  righteousness. 
23.  An  animal  having  any  member  too  large  or  too  small  may  serve 
for  a  gift,  but  not  for  the  payment  of  a  vow,  inasmuch  as  the  latter 
implied  a  perfect  victim.  24.  The  bruised  ^*  or  crushed  ^*  or  torn  ^  or 
cut  ^*  are  animals  castrated  in  some  one  of  four  different  modes  prac- 
tised in  ancient  times.  The  present  passage  forbids  not  only  the 
offering  of  victims  so  treated,  but  also  the  practice  itself.  25.  Nor 
from  the  hand  of  a  stranger.  As  from  no  Israelite,  so  from  no  stran- 
ger would  such  be  accepted  as  sacrifices.  The  bread  of  your  God. 
Anything  burned  on  the  altar  or  reserved  from  it  to  be  eaten  by  the 
priests  of  God  came  under  this  head  (iii.  11 ;  xxi.  21,  22).  It  must 
be  derived  from  a  perfect  victim  to  represent  that  which  is  acceptable 
to  God,  which  in  moral  things  is  perfect  righteousness.  Their  corrup- 
tion. Any  one  of  the  ten  or  twelve  defects  here  mentioned  is  a  corrup- 
tion, and  therefore  a  blemish,  rendering  them  unworthy  of  acceptance. 
26-33.  Conditions  to  be  observed  in  the  case  of  an  unblemished 
victim.  This  is  the  third  communication.  27.  First,  its  age.  Seven 
days  under  its  dam.  The  number  here  indicates  perfection  in  point 
of  days.     From  the  eighth  day  and  onwards  it  is  acceptable.     It  has 


LEVITICUS  XXII.  27-33.  265 

an  ox  or  sheep,  it  and  its  young  ye  shall  not  slay  in  one  day. 
29.  And  when  ye  make  a  sacrifice  of  praise  unto  the  Lord,  ye 
shall  sacrifice  it  for  your  acceptance.  30.  lu  that  day  it  shall 
be  eaten  ;  ye  shall  not  leave  of  it  until  the  morning  :  I  am  the 
Lord.  81.  And  ye  shall  keep  my  commandments  and  do 
them  :  I  am  the  Lord.  32.  And  ye  shall  not  profane  my  holy 
name  ;  but  I  will  be  hallowed  among  the  sons  of  Israel :  I  am 
the  Lord  wlio  hallow  you.  33.  Who  brought  you  out  of  the 
land  of  Mizraim  to  be  your  God  :  I  am  the  Lord.  ^ 

got  a  bold  of  life,  and  may  be  viewed  apart  from  the  dam.  28.  Sec- 
ondly, the  dam  and  the  young  are  not  to  be  slain  in  one  day.  Even 
the  natural  affection  of  a  brute  was  not  to  be  wounded.  Much  less  is 
our  own  sense  of  23ropriety  and  good  feeling  to  be  blunted.  This  was 
a  striking  lesson  in  much  higher  things.  It  is  in  keeping  with  the 
precept  in  Ex.  xxiii.  19.  29,  30.  Thirdly,  the  flesh  of  the  sacrifice 
of  thanksgiving  was  to  be  eaten  on  the  same  day  on  which  it  was 
offered  (vii.  15).  This  comes  up  here  again  in  a  new  association  for 
the  sake  of  impression.  Thanksgiving  and  parsimony  do  not  go  well 
together.  To  reserve  any  part  of  a  thank-offering  when  there  may  be 
hungry  mouths  ready  to  partake  of  it  would  savor  more  of  parsimony 
than  praise.  The  word  of  authority  and  power  here  cqmes  in  with 
great  effect,  "I  am  the  Lord."  31.  Keep  my  commandments.  The 
principle  of  obedience,  as  distinct  from  the  intrinsic  obligation  of  a 
moral  law,  is  here  brought  into  view.  32,  33.  Ye  are  to  hallow  me 
in  all  your  offerings  and  proceedings.  And  ye  have  the  most  power- 
ful motives  as  well  as  the  most  cheering  encouragements  to  aim  at 
this  object.  "  I  am  the  Lord,"  the  God  of  covenant  and  of  salvation. 
This  is  an  all-powerful  motive.  "  Who  brought  you  out  of  the  land 
of  Mizraim  to  be  your  God."  Here  is  another  ovewhelming  motive. 
I  have  delivered  you  from  bondage  ;  I  am  your  God.  "  Who  hallow 
you."  Here  is  both  motive  and  encouragement ;  encouragement,  be- 
cause he  who  is  hallowed  of  God  is  thereby  endowed  with  a  new  life 
and  enabled  to  glorify  God  in  all  things.  The  chapter  is  closed  with 
the  animating  watchword,  "  I  am  the  Lord." 

34 


266  CONCERNING  SET  DAYS. 


18.  Kara  Tracrav  of/^oXoytav  avTuiv  ■^  Kara  ■n-acrav  atpeo-tv  awTcov. 
22.   Ulcerous,  rta;; ,  flowing  out ;  f^vpfxrjKLwvTa,  warty. 

24.  Bruised,  '^'^V^>2 ,  pressed ;  ^AaStas  .  Crushed,  nw| ,  beaten  in 
pieces  ;  e/crc^Atju/Aei^os.  Torn,  p^ins ,  rent ;  iKTOfj^ias.  Cut,  ri'13  ;  ciTrecr- 
7ra(r)U,evos. 

25.  Corruption,  PJiliJTa ,  marring ;  <f>9dpfiaTa.     Pli^ ,  corrupt. 


XXni.    CONCERNING  SET  DAYS. 

There  are  in  this  chapter  five  communications  to  Moses  for  the 
children  of  Israel  in  general.  The  first  refers  to  the  weekly  sabbath 
and  the  passover  (1-8)  ;  the  second  to  the  wave-sheaf  and  the  feast 
of  weeks  (9-22)  ;  the  third  to  the  new  moon  of  the  seventh  month 
(23-25)  ;  the  fourth  to  the  day  of  atonement  (26-32)  ;  and  the  fifth 
to  the  feast  of  tabernacles  (33-44).  It  is  an  enlargement  of  the 
second  half  of  the  section  on  set  times  in  Ex.  xxiii.  10-19.  It  is  a 
chapter  of  much  interest  in  many  respects. 

1-8.  This  communication  consists  of  an  introduction  (1,  2),  and 
two  parts  relating  to  the  weekly  sabbath  (3),  and  the  passover  (4-8). 
First,  the  introduction.  2.  27ie  set  times?  The  original  word  means 
a  time  or  place  appointed  for  meeting.  Holy  convocations.  These 
are  meetings  called  together  for  holy  or  religious  ends.  Their  pur- 
pose is  defined  by  the  epithet  holy.  There  were  other  convocations 
for  secular  purposes.  These  are  my  set  times.  After  giving  the  first 
place  to  the  prominent  object,  the  sentence  is  formed  independently 
and  completely.  These  set  times  have  a  sacred  purpose  and  a  divine 
authority.  3.  The  weekly  sabbath.  This  is  here  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  Lord's  set  times.  Six  days  shall  worh  be  done.  This  is  indeed 
a  permission  to  labor ;  but  it  is  also  an  injunction.  The  proper  part 
of  man  with  his  present  nature  and  in  his  present  condition  is  rational 
employment.  The  effect  of  the  fall  on  him  and  his  surroundings  has 
been  to  harden  this  native  activity  of  purpose  and  endeavor  into  labor 
and  toil.  But  on  the  seventh  day.  The  number  seven  here  cornea 
into  play.     There  is,  undoubtedly,  in  the  physical  constitution  of  man 


LEVITICUS  XXIII.  1-3.  267 

XXIII.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  Speak 
unto  the  sons  of  Israel  and  say  unto  them :  The  set  times  of 
the  Lord,  which  ye  shall  proclaim  to  be  holy  convocations, 
these  are  my  set  times.  3.  Six  days  shall  work  be  done :  but 
on  the  seventh  day  is  a  sabbath  of  rest,  a  holy  convocation  ; 
ye  shall  do  no  work ;  it  is  a  sabbath  to  the  Lord  in  all  your 
dwellings,  ^ 

a  reason  for  the  seventh  day's  rest.  See  on  Ex.  xx.  10.  A  sabbath 
of  rest.  This  phrase  is  applied  twice  to  the  day  of  atonement  and 
once  to  the  sabbatical  year  (xxv.  4).  When  applied  to  a  day  it 
denotes  a  resting  from  all  work  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term. 
A  holy  convocation.  This  is  a  most  important  intimation  concerning 
the  sabbath.  It  was  a  set  day  of  meeting  together  for  social  worship. 
This  was  its  chief  distinction  for  the  people.  In  the  place  where  God 
was  pleased  to  record  his  name  no  doubt  the  second  morning  and  eve- 
ning lamb  was  offered  on  this  day.  But  this  involved  the  presence 
and  action  of  the  priest  oiAj  whose  turn  it  was  to  officiate.  And  even 
if  such  places  had  been  multiplied,  so  that  every  tribe  might  have  its 
sanctuary,  the  sabbath  offerings  might  not  have  been  multiplied,  and 
they  did  not  afford  to  all  the  people  the  religious  exercises  and  in- 
struction which  they  needed.  But  the  holy  convocation  brought 
together  the  multitude  who  kept  the  holy  day  to  the  stated  place  of 
social  worship.  Speaking  to  the  congregation  and  addressing  God 
were  the  essential  constituents  of  this  simple  worship.  The  former 
branched  into  reading  the  book  of  revelation  and  adding  the  word  of 
instruction  and  exhortation  ;  the  latter  into  the  song  of  praise  and  the 
voice  of  prayer.  Ye  shall  do  no  worlc.  "Work  was  of  two  kinds : 
labor  and  business  ;  labor  being  the  toil  of  the  hands,  business  the  ex- 
ercise of  trade.  Neither  was  to  be  done  on  the  weekly  sal^bath.  A 
sabbath  to  the  Lord,  dedicated  to  him,  and  therefore  to  communion 
with  him.  In  all  your  dwellings.  This  is  a  very  significant  phrase. 
It  distinguishes  the  convocation  of  the  weekly  sabbath  from  that  of 
the  annual  festival.  In  the  latter  the  meeting-place  was  the  sanctuary, 
whether  of  the  nation  or  the  tribe ;  in  the  former  the  village-green, 
where  public  meetings  were  wont  be  held,  and  which  was  at  a  conve* 


268  CONCERNING  SET  DAY. 

4.  These  are  the  set  times  of  the  Lord,  holy  convocations, 
which  ye  shall  proclaim  in  their  set  times.  5.  In  the  first 
month  on  the  fourteenth  of  the  month  between  the  evenings 
is  the  passover  to  the  Lord.  6.  And  on  the  fifteenth  day  of 
this  month  is  the  feast  of  sweet  bread  unto  the  Lord  ;  seven 
days  ye  shall  eat  sweet  bread.  7.  On  the  first  day  ye  shall 
have  a  holy  convocation  ;  ye  shall  do  no  servile  work.  8.  And 
ye  shall  make  a  fire-offering  unto  the  Lord  seven  days ;  on  the 
seventh  day  is  a  holy  convocation  ;  ye  shall  do  no  servile  work.  ^ 

nieut  distance  from  the  surrounding  homesteads.  These  weekly  meet- 
ings kejjt  ahve  the  knowledge  and  piety  of  the  simple  yeoman  in  all 
the  land.  As  the  climate  was  mild  they  did  not  need  a  covered  building. 
Their  synagogue  was  the  canopy  of  heaven,  or  the  wide-spreading  tree 
in  the  green  of  every  hamlet.  This  verse  therefore  provides  for  the 
early  origin  of  the  primitive  synagogue.  The  origin  of  the  stone  and 
lime  synagogue  is  a  matter  of  comparatively  little  importance.  This 
single  verse  affords  an  interesting  prospect  of  the  unwritten  history 
of  Israel's  rural  piety. 

4-8.  The  passover  and  feast  of  unleavened  bread.  4.  These  are  the 
set  times.  After  the  weekly  sabbath  comes  a  general  heading  for  the 
annual  festivals.  5.  In  the  first  month.  This  became  the  first  month 
on  the  appointment  of  the  Lord  (Ex.  xii.  2)  at  the  departure  from 
Egypt.  On  the  fourteenth.  The  paschal  lamb  was  set  apart  on  the 
tenth  and  slain  on  the  fourteenth  (Ex.  xii.  6).  Between  the  evenings. 
The  slaying  of  the  lamb  took  place  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  day  before 
sunset,  since  if  it  had  been  after  sunset  it  would  not  have  been  on  the 
fourteenth,  but  on  the  following  day.  Passover  to  the  Lord,  kept  in 
honor  of  the  Lord,  and  in  commemoration  of  the  signal  deliverance 
which  accompanied  its  first  celebration  (Ex.  xii.).  6.  And  on  the  fif- 
teenth. This  is  the  first  of  the  seven  days  of  sweet  or  unleavened  bread. 
7.  It  is  a  day  of  holy  convocation.  No  servile  work.  Servile  work 
is  manual  labor  in  contrast  with  business,  such  as  buying  and  selling. 
It  is  to  be  observed  that  this  day  is  not  called  a  sabbath,  but  a  holy 
convocation  in  which  no  servile  work  is  to  be  done.  8.  A  fire-offering, 
a  propitiatory  sacrifice.     This  is  specified  in  Num.  xviii.     Seven  days 


LEVITICUS  xxm.  8-11.  269 

9.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  10.  Speak 
unto  the  sons  of  Israel  and  say  unto  them,  When  ye  go  into 
the  land  which  I  give  you  and  reap  its  harvest,  then  ye  shall 
bring  the  sheaf  of  first-fruits  of  your  harvest  unto  the  priest. 
11.  And  he  shall  wave  the  sheaf  before  the  Lord  for  your 
acceptance;   on  the  morrow  of  the  sabbath  the  priest  shall 

are  fire-offerings  to  be  made.  The  seventh  day  is  like  the  first,  a  day 
of  holy  convocation  and  abstinence  from  servile  work.  It  is  not  called 
a  sabbath.  The  intervening  days  have  their  appropriate  sacrifices, 
but  labor  is  not  suspended.  It  is  manifest  that  on  the  establishment 
of  the  people  in  the  land  and  their  dispersion  over  a  wide  territory 
local  sanctuaries  would  have  been  needed,  if  the  attendance  of  the 
whole  community  on  the  national  festivals  was  to  be  secured. 

9-14.  The  second  communication  begins  with  the  wave-sheaf. 
10.  When  ye  go  into  the  land.  These  directions  are  preparatory  to 
their  settlement  in  a  country  of  their  own.  The  passover  itself  had 
no  necessary  connection  with  landed  property ;  but  the  harvest  had. 
The  sheaf  of  first-fruits  of  your  harvest.  This,  as  it  came  from  the 
bands  of  a  grateful  nation,  was  a  sheaf  of  newly-reaped  barley.  At 
a  later  period  it  was  parched,  rubbed  out,  winnowed,  and  bruised  in 
a  mortar,  and  then  a  portion  of  it  burnt' on  the  altar;  but  this  does 
not  comport  with  the  simplicity  of  the  early  custom.  The  barley  was 
ripe  about  the  middle  of  April  and  the  wheat  about  three  weeks  later 
in  the  warmer  parts  of  Palestine.  11.  And  he  shall  wave  the  sheof. 
Communion  with  one  another  in  this  offering  is  prominent.  This  is 
the  sheaf  of  the  commonwealth  of  Israel.  For  your  acceptance. 
This  acknowledgement  of  God  as  the  Giver  of  the  harvest  is  accept- 
able to  him.  It  is  typical  of  the  great  propitiation,  on  the  ground  of 
which  all  are  accepted.  On  the  morrow  of  the  sabbath.  The  small 
minority  of  interpreters.  Rabbinical  and  Christian,  are  certainly  right 
in  maintaining  that  the  sabbath  here  mentioned  is  the  weekly  sab- 
bath, and  not  the  first  day  of  unleavened  bread,  for  the  following  reasons  : 
1.  This  section  is  a  new  communication,  distinct  from  that  relating  to 
the  feast  of  unleavened  bread.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  sab- 
bath here  is  left  undetermined,  in  order  to  suit  the  harvest.     It  cannot 


270  CONCERNING  SET  DAYS. 

wave  it.  12.  And  ye  shall  offer  in  the  day  of  your  waving  the 
sheaf  a  perfect  he-lamb  of  the  first  year  for  a  burnt-sacrifice 
to  the  Lord.     13.  And  its  oblation,  two  tenths  of  fine  flour 

be  i^roved  that  it  belonged  at  first  to  the  seven  days  of  unleavened 
bread,  however  probable  it  may  appear,  though  afterwards  it  actually 
did.  In  Deut.  xvi.  9  the  feast  of  weeks  is  reckoned  simply  from  the 
putting  of  the  sickle  to  the  standing  corn.  2.  The  first  day  of  un- 
leavened bread  is  not  called  a  sabbath,  but  simply  a  day  of  holy  con- 
vocation, in  which  no  servile  work  was  to  be  done.  3.  The  feast  of 
weeks  was  on  the  morrow  of  the  sabbath  (vs.  15),  and  this  sabbath 
can  only  be  the  weekly  sabbath.  But  it  was  the  fiftieth  day  from  the 
day  of  the  wave-sheaf,  inclusive,  and  hence  this  also  must  have  been 
the  day  after  a  weekly  sabbath.  Moreover  they  were  expressly  to 
count  seven  sabbaths  from  the  morrow  of  the  sabbath  to  the  morrow 
of  the  sabbath ;  and  as  the  latter  can  only  be  a  weekly  sabbath,  so 
must  the  former.  This  argument  is  decisive  of  itself.  The  only  way 
of  evading  it,  is  by  assuming  that  the  sabbath  means  in  vs.  15  not  even 
a  week,  but  a  period  of  seven  days  beginning  with  any  day.  4.  And 
therefore  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  sabbath  in  the  Old  Testament 
does  not  mean  a  week,  and  nowhere  does  it  mean  any  seven  days  be- 
ginning on  any  day  of  the  week.  Josephus,  it  is  true,  (Antiq.  iii.  10, 
5),  states  that  the  sheaf  of  first-fruits  was  presented  on  the  sixteenth 
of  Nisan ;  but  this  is  merely  the  interpretation  or  the  practice  of  his 
time  and  of  his  party.  The  Sept.  also  by  the  rendering  "  on  the  mor- 
row of  the  first," ^^  and  Onk.  by  the  phrase  "after  the  good  day,"  are 
supposed  to  countenance  the  statement  of  Josephus.  But  neither  of 
them  has  given  an  exact  version  of  the  original  words,  and  they  are 
both  too  late  to  outweigh  the  i-easons  assigned.  5.  It  must  be  added 
as  a  fifth  reason,  that  the  only  sabbath  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament 
in  connection  with  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  is  the  weekly  sabbath 
which  fell  on  the  day  after  the  first  day  of  the  feast,  that  several 
things  were  done  on  this  first  day  which  were  not  consistent  with  a 
strict  sabbath,  as,  a  judicial  investigation  (Matt.  xxvi.  57),  a  crucifix- 
ion (John  xix.  31),  buying  fine  linen  and  buying  and  preparing  spices 
(Mark  XV.  46  ;  xvi.  1 ;  Luke  xxiii.  56).  Hence  the  day  of  presenting 
the  wave-sheaf  was  the  first  day  of  the  week,  according  to  the  original 


LEVITICUS  XXin.  12-17.  271 

mingled  with  oil,  a  fire-ofifering  to  the  Lord  for  a  sweet  smell ; 
and  its  libation  of  wine,  the  fourth  of  a  hiu.  14.  And  bread 
or  parched  corn  or  fresh  ears  ye  shall  not  eat  until  this  same 
day  that  ye  bring  the  offering  of  your  God ;  it  is  a  statute 
forever  for  your  generations  in  all  your  dwellings.         § 

15.  And  ye  shall  count  for  you  from  the  morrow  of  the 
sabbath,  from  the  day  that  ye  bring  the  wave  sheaf;  seven 
sabbaths  shall  be  complete.  16.  Unto  the  morrow  of  the 
seventh  sabbath  ye  shall  count  fifty  days ;  and  ye  shall  offer 
a  new  oblation  unto  the  Lord.  17.  From  your  dwellings  ye 
shall  bring  bread  of  waving,  two  cakes  of  two  tenths ;  they 
shall  be  of  flour ;  with  leaven  shall  they  be  baken ;  They  are 

institution.  12, 13.  Along  with  the  sheaf  is  offered  a  perfect  lamb  for 
a  burnt-sacrifice,  with  its  oblation  and  libation.  Two  tenths  of  an 
ephah  are  here  prescribed,  instead  of  one,  for  a  lamb  (Num.  xxviii. 
31),  perhaps  because  it  accompanied  the  oblation  of  first-ripe  grain. 
14.  And  bread.  No  part  of  the  new  crop  was  to  be  used  for  food 
until  this  sheaf  was  offered.  In  all  your  dwellings.  This  was  a  rule 
to  be  observed  in  every  household. 

15-22.  The  feast  of  weeks  is  the  second  part  of  this  communication. 
It  is  evidently  connected  as  a  continuation  and  completion  with  the 
wave-sheaf  at  the  beginning  of  harvest.  And  ye  shall  count.  The 
counting  is  made  simple  by  the  seven  squared.  Seven  sabbaths  shall 
be  complete.  The  seventh  sabbath  shall  be  fulfilled.  16.  Until  the 
morrow  of  the  seventh  sabbath.  This  will  be  the  fiftieth  day  from  the 
sabbath  of  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread.  A  new  oblation.  The 
wave-sheaf  was  an  oblation  at  the  beginning  of  harvest,  and  this  was 
a  new  oblation  at  the  end  of  the  wheat  harvest.  It  is  made  of  the 
new  wheat,  as  the  former  was  of  barley.  17.  From  your  dwellings^ 
not  from  the  field,  as  the  wave-sheaf  was  brought.  This  too  was  a 
national  offering.  Two  cahes  of  two  tenths,  double  that  which  accom- 
panied the  wave-sheaf.  With  leaven,  because  it  is  to  be  the  ordinary 
bread  of  your  homes.  The  early  fruits.  These  are  different  from 
the  sheaf  of  first-fruits.     The  latter  was  t^e  first  sheaf  of  the  barley 


272  CONCERNING  SET  DAYS. 

the  early  fruits  unto  the  Lord.  18.  And  ye  shall  offer  with 
the  bread  seven  perfect  lambs  of  the  first  year  and  one  bullock 
of  the  herd  and  two  rams  ;  they  shall  be  a  burnt-sacrifice  to 
the  Lord  with  their  oblation  and  their  libation,  a  fire-offering 
of  a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord.  19.  And  ye  shall  offer  one 
kid  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-sacrifice,  and  two  lambs  of  the  first 
year  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace.  20.  And  the  priest  shall  wave 
them  with  the  bread  of  the  early  fruits  for  a  waving  before  the 
Lord  upon  the  two  lambs ;  they  shall  be  holy  unto  the  Lord 
for  the  priest.  21.  And  ye  shall  proclaim  this  same  day,  a 
holy  convocation  shall  it  be  unto  you,  ye  thall  do  no  servile 
work  ;  it  is  a  statute  forever  in  all  your  dwellings  for  your 
generations.     22.  And  when  ye  reap  the  harvest  of  your  land, 

harvest.  The  former  was  the  early  wheat  manufactured  into  fine 
flour.  18.  The  sacrifice  consists  of  the  sacred  number  of  lambs,  a 
bullock' and  two  rams  for  a  burnt-sacrifice,  accompanied  with  their 
oblations  and  libations  according  to  Num.  xxviii.  The  great  pro- 
pitiation is  represented  here  in  a  very  significant  manner.  This  is 
peculiarly  appropriate  when  the  grain  harvest  is  completed.  Bread 
is  the  staff*  of  life.  And  it  is  the  propitiatory  sacrifice  that  guarantees 
life  and  all  its  blessings  to  those  who  are  ready  to  perish.  19.  ^  sin- 
sacrifice  for  any  inadvertence  was  the  suitable  acknowledgement  of 
personal  defect  and  the  typical  pleading  of  the  true  expiation  for  sin. 
A  sacrifice  of  peace  comes  appropriately  from  the  nation  now  in  com- 
munion with  God.  20.  Shall  wave  them,  the  two  lambs  with  the 
bread  of  early  fruits  upon  them.  The  peace-offering  is  evidently  the 
crowning  act  to  which  the  others  led  the  way,  as  peace  with  God  is 
the  unspeakable  privilege  of  the  nation  this  day.  TJiey  shall  he  holy 
unto  the  Lord  for  the  priest.  The  peace-sacrifice  was  usually  eaten 
by  the  offerer.  As  the  holy  nation  is  here  the  offerer  the  priest  acts 
as  its  representative.  21.  Te  shall  proclaim  this  same  day.  The 
nature  of  the  proclamation  follows.  The  Pentecost  is  a  day  of  holy 
convocation  in  which  no  servile  work  is  to  be  done.  This  is  a  per- 
petual custom.     22.  lu  this  new  connection  the  injunction  of  xix.  9 


LEVITICUS  XXm.  22-24.  073 

thou  shalt  not  clear  out  the  corner  of  thy  field  when  thou 
reapest,  and  the  gleaning  of  thy  harvest  thou  shalt  not  gather ; 
to  the  poor  and  to  the  stranger  thou  shalt  leave  it:  I  am  the 
Lord  your  God.  ^ 

23.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  24.  Speak 
unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  saying,  In  the  seventh  month  in  the 
first  of  the  month  ye  shall  have  a  rest,  a  memorial  of  the 

is  with  a  kindly  impressiveness  repeated.  The  interval  between  the 
offering  of  the  wave-sheaf  and  the  wave-cakes  was  the  time  of  grain 
harvest.  The  latter  was  therefore  the  completion  of  the  former.  It 
is  obvious  that  the  immediate  reference  of  these  festivals  is  to  the 
operations  of  the  harvest.  At  the  same  time  it  is  manifest  that  we 
have  now  completed  a  cycle  of  festivals  which  have  a  most  intimate 
and  profound  union  among  themselves.  The  passover  represents 
death ;  the  wave-sheaf  and  the  wave-loaves  symbolize  life.  The 
Messiah  is  priest,  king,  and  prophet.  As  priest  he  is  the  Lamb  of 
God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  As  king,  he  is  the  wave- 
sheaf,  the  first-fruits  from  the  dead.  This  has  peculiar  force  when 
we  remember  that  he  rose  on  tlie  first  day  of  the  week  and  the  very 
day  of  the  wave-sheaf  being  offered.  As  prophet,  when  the  day  of 
Pentecost  was  fully  come  he  sent  the  promise  of  the  Father,  the 
Spirit  of  Truth  and  of  utterance  upon  the  discii^les,  the  full  harvest  of 
their  waiting  and  praying,  the  bread  of  eternal  life  for  their  hungering 
souls.  In  this  brief  period  of  seven  times  seven  days  there  is  a  typ- 
ical epitome  of  the  history  of  salvation. 

23-25.  The  feast  of  the  blowing  of  the  trumpet.  This  is  the  third 
communication.  24.  In  the  seventh  month.  Like  the  seventh  day 
this  month  has  a  sacred  significance.  As  the  first  month  of  the  civil 
year  it  has  also  a  distinct  importance.  On  the  first  day  of  the  month. 
This  was  the  new  year's  day  of  the  primeval  year.  It  was  therefore 
the  anniversary  of  the  first  day  of  that  creation  to  which  man  belongs. 
Ye  shall  have  a  rest.  This,  as  we  shall  see,  is  not  a  full  sabbath,  but 
a  rest  from  labor.  A  memorial  of  the  trumpet  blast.  It  was  com- 
memorative of  creation,  an  event  of  paramount  importance  and  glad- 
ness, which  was  celebrated  by  the  blowing  of  the  trumpet.  A  holy 
35 


274  CONCERNING  SET  DAYS. 

trumpot  blast,  a  holy  convocation.  25.  Ye  shall  do  no  servile 
work  ;  and  ye  shall  make  a  firc-offoring  unto  the  Lord.      § 

2(3.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  27.  But  on 
the  tenth  of  the  seventh  month  is  the  day  of  atonement :  it 
shall  be  a  holy  convocation  to  you,  and  ye  shall  afflict  your 
souls ;  and  ye  shall  make  a  fire-offering  to  tlie  Lord.  28.  And 
ye  shall  do  no  work  on  this  same  day  ;  for  it  is  a  day  of 
atonement,  to  atone  for  you  before  the  Lord  your  God. 
29.  For  every  soul  that  shall  not  be  afflicted  on  this  same  day 
shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people.  30.  And  every  soul  that 
doeth  any  work  on  this  same  day,  I  will  destroy  that  soul  from 
among  his  people,  31.  Ye  shall  do  no  work ;  it  is  a  statute 
forever  for  your  generations  in  all  your  dwellings.  32.  It 
is  a  sabbath  of  rest  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  afflict  your  souls : 

convocation.  As  this  was  not  one  of  the  great  festival  occasions,  on 
which  the  people  were  to  appear  before  the  Lord,  we  may  presume 
that  it  was  celebrated  not  only  in  the  tabernacle,  but  in  all  the  dwell- 
ings of  the  people.  It  was  an  occasion  of  universal  interest.  A  holy 
convocation  for  thanksgiving  and  prayer  would  be  most  suitable. 
2.5.  No  servile  work.  Though  work  not  servile  was  permitted,  the 
son  of  toil  was  to  be  released  from  his  labor.  Afire-offering.  This 
is  prescribed  in  Num.  xxix  1-G. 

26-32.  The  fourth  communication  refers  to  the  day  of  atonement. 
The  account  of  this  solemn  day  is  given  here  to  complete  the  series  in 
a  form  abbreviated  from  chap.  xvi.  with  some  additions.  27.  ^  fire- 
offering.  This  always  denotes  propitiation  and  acceptance.  The 
peculiar  rite  of  this  day  is  described  in  chap.  xvi.  and  the  fire-offering 
in  addition  is  given  in  Num.  xxix.  7-11.  28.  It  has  been  already 
noticed  that  this  is  the  only  day  of  abstinence  from  all  work  beside 
the  weekly  Sabbath.  The  peculiarity  of  the  day,  as  a  time  of  atone- 
ment, is  explained  in  chap.  xvi.  29,  30.  lie  that  neglects  to  afflict 
his  soul  or  to  abstain  from  all  work  on  this  day  is  to  be  excommuni- 
cated. 31.  This  restriction  is  to  be  observed  throughout  the  country 
in  the  homes  of  the  people.     32.  The  sabbath  of  rest  for  humiliation 


LEVITICUS  XXIII.  32-37.  275 

on  the  ninth  of  the  month  at  even,  from  even  unto  even,  ye 
shall  keep  your  sabbath.  ^ 

33.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  34.  Speak  unto 
the  sons  of  Israel,  saying,  On  the  fifteenth  day  of  this  seventh 
month  is  the  feast  of  tabernacles  seven  days  unto  the  Lord. 
35.  On  the  first  day  shall  be  a  holy  convocation ;  ye  shall  do 
no  servile  work.  36.  Seven  days  ye  shall  offer  a  fire-offering 
unto  the  Lord  ;  on  the  eighth  day  ye  shall  have  a  holy  convo- 
cation, and  ye  shall  offer  a  fire-offering  unto  the  Lord  ;  it  is  a 
solemnity  ;  ye  shall  do  no  servile  work. 

37.  These  are  the  set  times  of  the  Lord,  which  ye  shall 
proclaim  to  be  holy  convocations  to  offer  a  fire-offering  unto 

and  mourning  is  to  be  a  complete  day  from  sunset  on  the  ninth  to 
sunset  on  the  tenth. 

33-36.  This  part  of  the  fifth  communication  refers  to  the  feast  of 
tabernacles.  34.  Oti  the  fifteenth  day.  This  corresponds  to  the  feast 
of  sweet  bread  in  the  first  month.  Seven  days.  There  were  seven 
days  of  unleavened  bread  preceded  by  the  pasch.  35.  On  the  first 
day,  as  on  the  first  day  of  sweet  bread,  a  holy  convocation  and  no  ser- 
vile work.  36.  In  Num.  xsix.  12-34  we  have  a  minute  regulation 
concerning  the  fire-offering  of  each  day  of  the  seven.  On  the  eighth 
day.  As  the  seven  days  of  sweet  bread  were  preceded  by  the  paschal 
meal,  so  the  seven  days  of  tabernacles  are  followed  by  an  eighth  day, 
which  is  a  day  of  holy  convocation  with  its  appropriate  fire-offering 
prescribed  in  Num.  xxix.  35-38.  It  is  called  the  great  day  of  the 
feast  in  John  vii.  37,  and  has  special  reference  to  the  ingathering 
(Ex.  xxiii.  16).  It  is  a  solemnity. ^^  This  word  is  used  of  the  last  day 
of  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  Deut.  xvi.  8  and  in  Josephus,  Antiq. 
iii.  10,  6,  of  the  day  of  pentecost,  which  is  the  closing  day  of  the  first 
cycle  of  festivals  in  the  second  year.  This  accords  with  the  rendering 
of  the  Sept.,  assembly  of  closing  or  dismissal.  The  idea  of  restraint 
or  sacred  obligation  is  not  inconsistent  with  this. 

37-44.  A  recapitulation,  with  an  appendix  on  dwelling  in  booths. 
37.   These  are  the  set  times.     From  this  chapter  it  appears  that  there 


276  CONCEENING  SET  DAYS. 

the  Lord,  a  burnt-sacrifice  and  an  oblation,  a  sacrifice  and 
libations,  each  in  its  day.  38.  Besides  the  sabbaths  of  the 
Lord  and  beside  your  gifts  and  beside  all  your  vows  and 
beside  all  your  free-gifts,  which  ye  give  unto  the  Lord.  39. 
But  in  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  seventh  month,  when  ye 
gather  in  the  produce  of  the  land,  ye  shall  keep  the  feast  of  the 
Lord  seven  days,  on  the  first  day  a  rest,  and  on  the  eighth  day 

were  seven  days  on  which  labor  or  servile  work  was  suspended :  the 
first  and  seventh  days  of  the  feast  of  sweet  bread,  the  day  of  the  feast 
of  harvest,  the  new  moon  of  the  seventh  month,  the  day  of  atonement, 
and  the  first  and  eighth  days  of  the  feast  of  ingathering.  Of  these  the 
day  of  atonement  alone  was  a  sabbath  of  rest,  in  which  all  kinds  of 
work  were  to  cease.  Hence  we  perceive  that  the  Supreme  Governor, 
who  demanded  the  weekly  sabbath,  was  very  far  from  multiplying 
other  days  of  cessation  from  labor,  and  required  only  one  other  day 
of  absolute  rest  from  all  business.  A  fire-offering  unto  the  Lord. 
These  are  all  specified  in  Num.  xxviii.,  xxix.  The  different  kinds 
are  the  burnt-sacrifice,  the  oblation  or  meat-offering,  the  sacrifice, 
including  the  peace-oflFering,  the  sin-sacrifice,  and  the  trespass-offering, 
with  the  libation  or  drink-offering.  Hence  it  appears  that  some 
portion  or  memorial  of  the  libation  was  cast  upon  the  fire  of  the  altar. 
38.  Beside  the  sabbaths.  These  form  a  class  by  themselves,  the 
weekly  set  times.  Beside  your  gifts,  which  are  not  sacrifices  at  all. 
Beside  all  your  vows.  The  vows  and  free  gifts  come  under  the  head 
either  of  peace-offerings  or  of  burnt-sacrifices.  39.  But.  Another 
aspect  of  the  feast  of  tabernacles  is  now  presented.  Wlien  ye  gather 
in  the  •produce.  It  is  the  feast  of  ingathering.  Eipe  grapes  can  be 
found  in  July ;  but  the  general  vintage  of  Palestine  is  in  September. 
The  whole  produce  of  the  ground  may  therefore  be  gathered  in  at 
the  feast  of  ingathering,  which  was  at  the  full  moon  next  the  autumnal 
equinox.  On  the  first  day  a  rest.^^  The  rest  here  is  not  the  word 
sabbath,  which  applies  only  to  the  weekly  sabbath,  the  day  of  atone- 
ment, and  the  sabbatical  year.  It  is  the  partial  rest — the  rest  from 
labor  or  servile  work  —  which  characterizes  all  the  other  days  of  holy 
convocation,  as  we  see  from  the  following  verse.     40.   Take  unto  you 


LEVITICUS  XXIII.  40-43.  277 

a  rest.  40.  And  ye  shall  take  unto  you  on  the  first  day  the 
fruit  of  goodly  trees,  shoots  of  palms  and  branches  of  leafy 
trees  and  willows  of  the  brook ;  and  ye  shall  be  glad  before 
the  Lord  your  God  seven  days.  41.  And  ye  shall  keep  a  feast 
unto  the  Lord  seven  days  in  the  year ;  it  is  a  statute  forever 
for  your  generations ;  in  the  seventh  month  ye  shall  keep  it. 
42.  In  booths  ye  shall  dwell  seven  days,  all  that  are  born  in 
Israel  shall  dwell  in  booths.  43.  That  your  generations  may 
know  that  I  made  the  sons  of  Israel  dwell  in  booths,  when  I 

on  the  first  day.  The  taking  of  branches  and  forming  of  booths  were 
not  work  to  be  clone  on  the  strict  sabbath,  but  only  on  those  festive 
days  on  which  abstinence  from  servile  work  only  was  required.  Fruit 
of  goodly  trees,  branches  with  leaves,  blossoms,  and  whatever  fruit 
was  upon  them.  Shoots  of  palms.  These  are  the  spreading  leaves 
of  the  palm.  This  tree,  of  which  there  are  said  to  be  a  thousand 
kinds,  is  the  characteristic  tree  of  Palestine.  Leafy  trees,  abounding 
in  intertwining  shoots  and  leaves.  Willows  of  the  brooh,  that  grow  by 
the  watercourses  in  the  meadows.  Te  shall  he  glad.  This  is  the 
season  of  rejoicing,  because  the  products  of  the  labor  of  the  year  have 
been  gathered,  and  in  the  order  of  a  kind  Providence  it  satisfies  the 
wants  and  gratifies  the  tastes  of  the  rational  and  susceptible  race.  Seven 
days,  as  usual,  the  time  of  perfection.  41.  This  is  to  be  a  perpetual 
ordinance.  42.  In  booths.  The  booth  is  a  hut  made  of  branches  of 
trees,  with  the  green  leaves  on.  The  tabernacle  is  a  structure  of 
boards,  and  therefore  more  permanent.  The  tent  is  an  awning  of 
goats'  or  camels'  hair  cloth,  supported  by  a  pole  or  poles.  All  that 
are  born  in  Israel.  They  are  all  entitled  to  take  part  in  this  solem- 
nity, and  all  that  can  and  will  are  certain  to  join  in  it.  To  insist  on 
absolute  universality  is  to  become  the  bond-slave  of  the  letter.  43. 
Tliat  your  generation  may  know.  Commemoration  is  suited  to  the 
genius  of  humanity.  History  is  the  memory  of  moments  or  turning- 
points  in  the  progressive  development  of  mankind.  And  these  mo- 
ments are  pregnant  with  instruction  for  all  coming  generations. 
Dwell  in  booths.  This  festival  is  commemorative  of  the  Israelites 
dwelling  in  booths  at  Succoth  (booths),  when  they  came  out  of  Egypt. 


278  CONCEKNING  SET  DAYS. 

brought  them  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim :  I  am  the  Lord  your 
God.  44.  And  Moses  spake  of  the  set  times  of  the  Lord  unto 
the  sons  of  Israel.  ^ 

Hence  we  see  that  several  ends  and  lessons  may  coincide  in  the  same 
solemnity.  This  is  the  feast  of  ingathering  because  the  increase  of 
the  field  was  now  gathered  in,  and  the  feast  of  tabernacles  in  remem- 
brance of  the  deliverance  from  Egypt.  The  seven  days  referred 
especially  to  the  commemoration  of  the  past  (Deut.  xvi.  13,  14)  ;  the 
eighth  day  to  the  crowning  of  the  year  with  the  goodness  of  the  Lord 
in  the  ingathering  of  the  harvest. 

Hence  we  are  led  by  an  easy  path  to  a  higher  significance  of  all 
these  set  times.  This  arises  from  the  reference  not  merely  to  natural 
and  historical  events,  but,  above  all,  to  the  God  of  nature  and  history. 
We  recognize  in  the  cycle  of  the  seventh  month  the  primeval  religion 
of  universal  man.  The  day  of  the  new  moon  of  the  original  beginning 
of  the  year  is  the  stated  anniversary  of  the  six  days'  creation.  The 
dawn  of  human  history  is  celebrated  by  the  blowing  of  the  trumpet. 
After  this,  on  the  tenth  of  the  month,  comes  the  day  of  atonement, 
the  day  of  confession  of  sin  and  repentance  toward  God  ;  the  origin 
of  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  fall  of  man,  if  it  do  not  call  to  remem- 
brance the  date  of  that  first  disobedience.  It  speaks  of  self-condem- 
nation, but  at  the  same  time  of  pardon  and  acceptance  through  the 
mercy  of  God.  The  day  of  ingathering  would  have  been  the  meet 
sequel  of  the  day  of  creation,  if  no  fall  had  intervened  to  disturb  the 
moral  order  of  things.  The  holy  soul  in  the  full  tide  of  its  happiness 
would  have  poured  forth  its  spontaneous  notes  of  gratitude  to  the 
God  of  light  and  right  and  love.  When  Adam  yielded  to  temptation, 
however,  the  mystery  of  mercy  came  forth  in  a  word  of  invitation 
from  the  holy  breast  of  God ;  and  so  hope  awoke  in  the  guilty  breast 
of  man,  and  faith  still  stepped  forth  to  celebrate  the  feast  of  ingather- 
ing, the  earnest  of  all  blessings  in  time  and  in  eternity  from  the  hands 
of  God  through  the  mediation  of  the  great  High-Priest. 

On  this  ancient  stock  of  the  catholic  church  of  Adam  and  Koah 
was  grafted  the  vine  brought  out  of  Egypt  with  its  peculiar  ordinances, 
its  new  beginning  of  the  year,  its  passover,  feast  of  unleavened  bread, 
and  feast  of  weeks.     These,  also,  only  rise  to  their  true  significance 


LEVITICUS  XXin.  44.  279 

^vhen  we  remember  their  relation  to  God.  Th^  paschal  lamb  aud  its 
accompanying  seven  days  festival  bring  out  into  a  new  prominence 
the  propitiation  for  sin.  The  feast  of  first-fruits  and  the  pentecost 
after  seven  times  seven  days,  like  the  circumcision  after  seven  days, 
celebrate  the  second  great  element  of  salvation,  the  spiritual  resurrec- 
tion and  purification  of  the  soul,  the  first-fruits  of  the  Spirit,  by  which 
it  is  determined  to  accept  the  atonement  and  realize  the  blessedness 
of  freedom  and  peace.  In  the  unsearchable  wisdom  of  the  provident 
Disposer  of  all  events  the  solemnities  of  the  second  half  of  the  second 
year  now  fall  into  one  compact  whole,  foreshadowing  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  pardon,  the  third  part  of  the  great  salvation,  in  itself  the 
source  and  sum  of  all  the  rest,  and  inclusive  of  perpetual  acceptance, 
adoption,  and  inheritance.  Thus  the  revolution  of  every  sacred  year 
presents  before  the  sanctified  imagination,  in  orderly  succession,  the 
atonement,  the  new  birth,  and  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  the 
kingdom  of  God.  And  this  remarkable  chapter  shows  that  the  set 
times  of  the  Lord  are  the  several  stages  of  the  kingdom  of  God  here 
on  earth. 

NOTES. 

2.  Set  time  l^'i'^,  appointed  time  or  place  :  loprrj.  5n ,  vs.  6,  feast ;  lopTrj. 

11.  Ttj  liravpiov  tt}?  TrpaJxT^?.  The  statement  in  Josh.  V.  11,  "they 
ate  of  the  corn  of  the  land  on  the  morrow  after  the  passover  un- 
leavened cakes  and  parched  corn  in  the  self-same  day,"  refers  to  the 
first  day  of  unleavened  bread  when  they  began  to  eat  of  the  bread 
of  the  land,  on  which  the  manna  ceased,  and  has  no  bearing  on  the 
question  of  the  wave-sheaf.  The  view  of  this  question  given  in  the 
text  is  that  of  the  Baithusians,  who  were  akin  to  the  Sadducees  and 
the  Karaites,  and  alone  serves  to  harmonize  the  different  accounts  of 
the  crucifixion. 

36.  Solemnity  n"ii;s  assembly  of  restraint,  detention,  or  conclusiou: 
c^dStov,  closing  meeting  ;  r.  shut  in,  restrain.  It  is  applied  in  Isa.  i.  13 
and  Joel  i.  14  to  a  suspension  of  servile  work  for  a  religious  solem- 
nity, and  in  Jer.  ix.  1  to  a  confederacy  of  wicked  men.  It  occurs 
about  ten  times ;  in  four  of  which  it  applies  to  the  last  day  of  the 
feast  of  ingathering. 

39.  A  rest  linad;  dvaTrauo-i?.  rsd;  the  sabbath,  applied  only  to 
the  weekly  Sabbath,  the  day  of  atonement  and  the  sabbatical  year : 
o-a/3y3aTOV,  o-aySySara. 


280  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD. 


XXrV,    OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD. 

XXIV.  1.  And  the  Loed  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  Com- 
mand the  sons  of  Israel,  and  let  them  fetch  the  pure  olive  oil 
beaten  for  the  light  to  kindle  a  continual  lamp.  3.  Without 
the  veil  of  the  testimony  in  the  tent  of  meeting,  Aaron  shall 
order  it  from  evening  to  morning  before  the  Lord  continually ; 
it  is  a  statute  forever  for  your  generations.  4.  Upon  the 
clean  candlestick  he  shall  order  the  lamps  before  the  Lord 
continually.  ^ 

5.  And  thou  shalt  take  fine  flour  and  bake  it  into  twelve 
cakes  ;  two  tenths  shall  be  the  one  cake.  6.  And  thou  shalt  set 
them  in  two  piles,  six  in  the  pile,  on  the  clean  table  before  the 

In  this  chapter  are  two  communications ;  one  concerning  the  house 
of  God  (1-9),  and  another  concerning  the  honor  of  his  name  (10-23). 
They  are  both  made  to  Moses.  The  first  communication  contains 
two  parts,  one  for  the  sons  of  Israel  concerning  the  light  for  tlie 
candlestick  (1-4),  and  another  concerning  the  bread  for  the  table  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord  (5-9).  The  second  communication  is  prefaced 
by  a  narrative  of  the  occasion  on  which  it  was  given  (10-12). 

1-4.  The  light  for  the  golden  candlestick.  This  is  repeated  in  a 
new  connection,  having  been  already  given  in  Ex.  xxvii.  20,  21, 
where  it  has  been  already  explained.  4.  The  clean  candle  slide,  made 
of  pure  gold,  and  free  from  all  soil.  See  on  Ex.  xxxi.  8.  On  this 
second  communication  being  made  it  is  probable  that  the  provision 
and  preparation  immediately  followed.  It  may  have  been  given 
before  the  consecration  of  the  priests  along  with  the  following 
regulation. 

0-9.  The  bread  for  the  table.  This  is  now  specified  for  the  first 
time.  5.  Fine  flour.  Of  this  there  must  be  twenty-four  omers,  as 
there  are  two  omers  in  each  cake.  An  omer  was  the  portion  of 
manna  gathered  by  each  Israelite  in  the  wilderness.  It  contained 
about  three  and  one-half  pints.  The  two  omers  are  a  double  portion, 
and  indicate  the  abundance  of  blessing  in  God's  house.     G.  In  two 


LEVITICUS  XXIV.  6-9.  281 

Lord.  7.  And  thou  slialt  put  upon  the  pile  pure  frankincense! ; 
and  it  shall  be  on  the  bread  for  a  memorial,  a  fire-offering  unto 
the  Lord.  8.  Every  sabbath-day  he  shall  lay  it  before  the  Lord 
continually,  from  the  sons  of  Israel  it  is  a  perpetual  covenant. 
9.  And  it  shall  be  to  Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  they  shall  eat  it 
in  a  holy  place  ;  for  it  is  most  holy  unto  him  of  the  fire-offerings 
of  the  Lord  by  a  statute  forever.  § 

piles.  The  table  was  two  cubits  long  and  one  broad.  A  pint  contains 
about  34.6  cubic  inches,  and  therefore  two  omers,  or  seven  pints,  are 
equal  to  242.2  such  Indies.  Hence  a  cake  of  two  omers  of  flour  would 
be  about  9  by  9  by  3  inches  or  12  by  7  by  3  inches,  if  there  was  no 
increase  by  kneeding  and  baking.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the 
arrangement  must  be  a  pile,  which  would  be  eighteen  inches  high. 
The  clean  table.  It  was  made  of  acacia  wood  and  overlaid  with  pure 
gold  (Ex.  XXV.  23-30),  and,  of  course,  free  from  any  stain.  7.  Pure 
frankincense.  The  bread  was  placed  on  two  plates  or  trays,  and  the 
frankincense  in  two  bowls.  These  vessels  were  of  pure  gold.  Frank- 
incense is  an  emblem  of  acceptance  for  the  suppliant.  A  memorial, 
calling  to  mind  the  whole  table  fare,  of  which  it  was  the  part  that 
was  eventually  burned  upon  the  altar.  A  fire  offering.  The  burning 
of  that  which  was  placed  on  the  altar  was  the  sign  of  the  offering 
being  accepted ;  and  the  burning  of  incense  was  the  token  of  accepted 
prayer.  Every  victim  burned  on  the  altar  was  transformed  into  a 
perfume,  a  sweet  smell  unto  the  Lord,  8.  Every  sabhath-day  the 
bread  was  to  be  renewed.  It  was  a  work  of  necessity  whicli  might  be 
performed  even  on  the  sabbath  (Ex.  xii.  16).  From  the  sons  of 
Israel  it  is  a  perpetual  covenant.  The  people  had  evidently  a  special 
connection  with  the  bread.  There  were  twelve  cakes,  as  there  were 
twelve  tribes  in  Israel.  Bread,  the  staff  of  life,  is  a  fit  emblem  of  the 
blessing  of  the  coveriant.  The  benefit  implied  the  fulfilment  of  the 
covenant,  that  is,  the  righteousness  which  gave  the  legal  title  to  eter- 
nal life.  Hence  this  bread  on  the  table  of  the  Lord  from  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel  is  an  appropriate  token  of  the  perpetual  covenant 
between  the  Lord  and  his  people.  9.  It  shall  he  to  Aaron  and  his 
sons.     The  bread  when  taken  away  was  to  be  eaten  by  the  priests  in 


282  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD. 

10.  And  the  son  of  a  woman  of  Israel  and  of  a  man  of 
Mizraim  came  out  among  the  sons  of  Israel ;  and  the  son  of 
the  woman  of  Israel  and  a  man  of  Israel  strove  in  the  camp. 

11.  And  the  son  of  the  woman  of  Israel  blasphemed  the  name 
and  cursed  ;  and  they  brought  him  to  Moses ;  and  liis  mother's 
name  was  Shelomith,  daughter  of  Dibri,  of  the  tribe  of  Dan. 

12.  And  thej  put  him  in  ward,  that  he  might  expound  unto 
them  from  the  mouth  of  the  Lord.  *|[ 

13.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  14.  Bring 
forth  him  tliat  cursed  without  the  camp,  and  let  all  that  heard 

a  holy  place,  within  the  precincts  of  the  tabernacle.  The  frankincense 
was  doubtless  burned  upon  the  altar  of  incense.  The  bread  is  the 
emblem  of  the  blessings  of  life,  as  the  seven  lamps  are  of  the  light 
of  life.  The  incense  on  the  golden  altar  standing  between  the  table 
and  the  candlestick  is  tbe  memorial  of  the  ransom  of  life.  The  first 
sjDeaks  to  us  of  the  Father,  the  second  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  third  of 
the  Messiah. 

10-12.  These  verses  record  tbe  occasion  of  a  new  communication 
from  the  Lord.  10.  Came  out  among  the  sons  of  Israel.  Being  an 
Egyptian  by  the  father's  side,  he  had  no  place  among  the  Israelites, 
except  as  a  stranger,  a  proselyte  to  the  true  God.  He  seems  to  have 
intruded  into  the  camp  of  Israel.  This  may  have  been  part  of  the 
occasion  of  the  strife.  11.  In  the  heat  of  the  struggle  he  blasphemed 
the  name.  This  is  the  exclusive  name  of  God,  Jehovah,  which  was 
not  even  pronounced  by  the  Jews  of  a  later  period,  and  which  is 
usually  rendered  "  the  Lord  "  in  the  English  version.  This  man  in- 
herited from  his  father  at  least  a  wavering  mind,  and  in  the  fury  of 
his  resentment  provoked  his  antagonist  in  the  highest  degree  by  blas- 
pheming the  name  of  God  and  cursing ;  thus  adding  imprecation  to 
blasphemy.  This  led  to  the  prompt  interference  of  the  bystanders, 
who  brought  him  to  Moses.  12.  He  is  put  in  ward  until  a  definite 
sentence  is  obtained  from  the  Lord.  This  is  repealed  to  Moses  in  a 
new  communication. 

13-23.  General  directions  for  cases  of  strife.  14.  Bring  forth. 
The  blasphemer  is  by  the  very  act  excommunicated,  and  therefore 


LEVITICUS  XXIV.  14-23.  283 

lay  their  hands  upon  his  head  ;  and  let  all  the  assembly  stone 
him.  15.  And  to  the  sons  of  Israel  thou  shalt  speak,  saying, 
Whosoever  curse th  his  God  shall  bear  his  sin.  16.  And  he 
that  blasphemeth  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  put  to  death ; 
all  the  assembly  shall  stone  him  ;  as  the  stranger,  so  the  home- 
born,  when  he  blasphemeth  the  name  shall  die.  17.  And  he 
that  smiteth  a  man's  life  shall  be  put  to  death.  18.  And  he 
that  smiteth  a  beast's  life  shall  make  it  good,  life  for  life.  19. 
And  if  a  man  cause  a  blemish  in  his  neighbor,  as  he  hath  done 
so  shall  it  be  done  to  him.  20.  Breach  for  breach,  eye  for  eye, 
tooth  for  tooth ;  as  he  causeth  a  blemish  in  the  man  so  shall  it 
be  done  to  him.  21.  And  he  that  smiteth  a  beast  shall  restore 
it ;  and  he  that  smiteth  a  man  shall  die.  22.  Ye  shall  have 
one  judgment ;  as  the  stranger  so  shall  the  liome-born  be ;  for 
I  am  the  Lord  your  God.     23.  And  Moses  spake  to  the  sons 

removed  from  the  camp.  All  that  heard.  The  witnesses  are  solemnly 
to  identify  and  lay  on  him  the  guilt  by  laying  on  their  hands.  All  the 
assembly.  They,  as  well  as  the  witnesses,  by  their  judicial  acts  prac- 
tically abjure  all  participation  in  his  guilt.  15.  And  to  the  sons  of 
Israel.  Here  we  have  further  instructions  called  forth  by  the  occasion. 
16.  He  that  curses  God  or  blasphemes  the  sacred  name,  whether 
stranger  or  homeborn,  is  to  be  stoned  by  the  assembly.  17.  He  that 
smiteth  a  man's  life,  smiteth  him  so  as  to  take  his  life,  is  to  be  put  to 
death.  18.  He  that  killeth  another  man's  beast  must  give  a  beast  of 
equal  value.  19.  He  that  causeth  a  blemish  in  another  shall  suffer 
the  like  blemish  on  himself.  20.  The  lex  talionis,  or  law  of  retali- 
ation, is  here  repeated  (Ex.  xxi.  24),  for  the  guidance  of  the  civil  mag- 
istrate. It  is  not  lawful  for  the  subject  to  take  the  execution  of  the 
law  into  his  own  hands.  But  it  is  his  right  to  appeal  to  the  magistrate, 
who  is  to  administer  the  law  of  equity.  21,  22.  The  law  of  distrib- 
utive justice  is  here  reiterated  for  the  sake  of  emphasis,  and  applied 
equally  to  the  native  and  the  stranger.  23.  The  sentence  on  the 
blasphemer  is  now  executed  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord,  on 
\vhose  authority  the  whole  administration  of  justice  in  Israel  rests. 


284  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD. 

of  Israel,  and  they  brought  forth  the  blasphemer  out  of  the 
camp  and  stoned  him  with  stones  :  and  the  sons  of  Israel  did 
as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses.  32  II  *l[  II 

Even  the  judicial  procedure  of  this  chapter  belongs  to  religion.  It 
belongs,  moreover,  to  the  house  of  God,  which  is  the  seat  of  justice. 
The  name  of  the  Chief  Ruler  has  been  blasphemed  in  his  very  court. 
His  attendants  report  the  case  to  him  in  the  tent  of  meeting,  consult 
liim  and  I'eceive  instructions  from  him  in  this  earthly  home  how  to 
deal  with  the  offender.  The  chapter  has  therefore  a  fundamental 
unity,  and  the  compiler  is  warranted  in  the  arrangement  of  its  appar- 
ently incongruous  parts.  The  present  section  has  a  logical  sequence 
in  the  whole  of  its  topics.  It  treats  of  the  priests,  the  offerings,  the 
set  times,  and  household  arrangements  of  the  Lord.  It  enters  into  a 
series  of  details  which  could  not  have  been  so  clearly  brought  out  in 
any  other  connection.  The  ingenuity  of  this  arrangement  is  much 
more  apparent  when  we  consider  that  the  whole  section  consists  of  a 
series  of  pieces,  which  the  writer  received  from  another  and  was  only 
authorized  to  put  in  order. 


SECTION  VI.  — MATTERS    PARTLY   CIVIL,  PARTLY 
RELIGIOUS. 

XXV.    SABBATICAL   TEARS. 

In  this  section  there  is  a  minghng  of  the  secular  and  the  sacred. 
It  contains  only  two  communications,  of  which  the  one  occupies  two 
chapters  and  the  other  one.  The  subject  of  the  former  is  the  sab- 
batical year.  It  falls  into  two  parts,  of  which  the  one  contains  a  code 
of  regulations  for  its  observance  and  provisions  concerning  liberty  and 
property,  and  the  other  an  admonition  setting  forth  the  blessings 
attendant  upon  its  observance  and  the  evils  consequent  upon  its 
neglect,  in  the  form  of  promises  and  warnings.  The  topic  of  the 
latter  is  the  vow,  which  comes  naturally  after  the  sabbatical  year,  as 
some  of  its  regulations  depend  on  the  jubilee.  It  appears  from  the 
commencement  and  close  of  the  fii'st  communication,  and  from  the 
close  of  the  second  that  they  were  both  made  in  Mount  Sinai,  and 
therefore  antecedent  to  some  of  those  in  the  intervening  sections,  and 
about  the  same  time  with  those  in  the  first  section  of  this  book.  They 
are  both  designed  for  the  whole  nation. 

The  twenty-fifth  chapter  begins  with  the  institution  of  the  sabbatical 
year  (1-7).  The  remainder  of  the  chapter  is  occupied  with  the 
jubilee  and  its  legal  effects  on  property  and  liberty.  After  a  definition 
of  the  jubilee  (8-12),  the  legal  return  of  every  man  to  his  land,  with 
its  effect  on  contracts,  is  described  in  13-34,  and  the  emancipation  of 
the  serf,  with  its  consequent  arrangements,  is  set  forth  in  35-55. 

1-7.  The  sabbatical  year.  1.  In  Mount  Sinai.  This  communica- 
tion must  have  been  made  either  during  the  forty  days  while  Moses 
was  on  the  mount  with  God,  or  afterwards,  in  the  temporary  tent  of 
meeting,  which  may  have  been  on  the  slope  of  the  mount.  The  date 
is  a  clear  proof  that  the  sacred  penman,  who  received  these  various 

285 


286  SABBATICAL  YEARS. 

XXY.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  in  Mount  Sinai,  say- 
ing, 2.  Speak  unto  the  sons  of  Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  When 
ye  go  into  the  land  which  I  give  you,  then  shall  the  land  keep 
a  sabbath  unto  the  Lord.  3.  Six  years  thou  shalt  sow  thy 
field  and  six  years  prune  thy  vineyard  and  gather  its  produce. 
4.  But  in  the  seventh  year  the  land  shall  have  a  sabbath  of 
rest,  a  sabbath  unto  the  Lord  :  thou  shalt  not  sow  thy  field 
nor  prune  thy  vineyard.  5.  The  self-growth  of  thy  harvest 
thou  shalt  not  reap,  nor   gather  the  grapes   of  thy  nazarite 

messages  from  heaven  in  a  certain  order  of  time,  was  yet  moved  to 
put  them  together  according  to  a  certain  order  of  thought.  Until  we 
have  descried  the  principle  that  governed  his  arrangement  we  are  not 
in  a  condition  to  judge  of  its  propriety.  2.  When  ye  go  into  the  land. 
This  and  the  following  communication,  like  most  of  those  in  the 
preceding  two  sections  contemplate  the  state  of  things  not  in  the  wil- 
derness but  in  the  future  land.  Then  shall  the  land  heep  a  sahbath. 
Man's  surroundings  are  modified  by  his  moral  nature.  As  the  rational 
agency  of  man  for  a  proposed  end  is  something  beyond  the  instinctive 
activity  of  the  mere  animal  nature,  and  requires  a  special  rest  on  the 
seventh  day,  so  the  cultivation  of  the  field  accomplished  by  such 
agency  causes  an  extraordinary  growth  beyond  the  spontaneous  effort 
of  nature ;  and  the  ground  that  is  so  treated  requires  a  special  period, 
a  seventh  year,  of  rest,  beyond  the  mere  repose  of  the  winter.  See  on 
Ex.  XX.  10.  Hence  a  cultivation  for  six  years  is  to  be  followed  by 
a  cessation  on  the  seventh  year.  The  cultivator  of  the  soil  is  aware 
of  the  necessity  of  this  arrangement  in  all  countries.  It  is  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  a  rotation  of  treatment.  3,  4.  Six  years  of  agri- 
cultural industry.  A  sabbath  unto  the  Lord.  Though  a  physical 
reason  lies  at  the  root  of  this  regulation,  the  sacred  writer  consistently 
with  his  principle  and  purpose,  refers  it  to  the  God  of  the  physical 
universe,  from  whose  intelligent  will  the  laws  of  nature  ultimately 
proceed.  On  this  year  intelligent  man  is  not  to  sow  his  field  nor 
prune  his  vine,  if  he  be  in  covenant  with  his  God  on  the  terms  of  the 
chosen  people.  5.  Tlie  self-growth^  that  which  grows  of  itself  without 
sowing  or  tilling  the  soil.     Tliou  %Ualt  not  reap,  reaping  for  the  purpose 


LEVITICUS  XXV.  5-9.  287 

vine :  it  is  a  year  of  rest  unto  the  land.  6.  And  the  sabbath 
of  the  land  sliall  be  to  you  for  food,  to  thee  and  to  thy  servant 
and  to  thy  maid  and  to  thy  hireling  and  to  thy  guest,  that 
sojourn  with  thee.  7.  And  to  thy  cattle  and  to  the  beasts  that 
are  in  thy  land  shall  all  its  produce  be  food.  § 

8.  And  thou  shalt  count  unto  tliee  seven  sabbaths  of  years, 
seven  times  seven  years ;  and  the  days  of  the  seven  sabbaths 
of  years  shall  be  to  thee  nine  and  forty  years.  9.  And  thou 
shalt  blow  the  trumpet  of  glad  sound  in  the  seventh  month,  on 

of  iugathering  is  not  to  take  place.  Tliy  nazarite  vine,  left  unpruned, 
having  all  its  tendrils  hanging  untouched,  like  the  unshorn  locks  of 
the  Nazarite.  The  poet  speaks  of  the  viridis  coma  of  the  vine.  A 
year  of  rest  unto  the  land,  in  which  it  is  released  from  the  operations 
of  tilling,  sowing,  and  ingathering.  6,  7.  The  sabbath  of  the  land, 
that  which  grows  spontaneously  when  the  land,  undisturbed  by  culture, 
enjoys  a  sabbath.  To  you  for  food,  to  thee.  The  owner  and  all  others 
were  to  be  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality.  Each  was  permitted  to 
gather  for  the  present  need,  but  not  for  store  or  sale.  Thy  guest  is  to 
be  on  a  par  with  all  thy  other  inmates.  That  sojourn  with  thee. 
This  applies  to  the  servants  and  the  guests  alike.  And  to  thy  cattle 
and  to  the  beasts.  To  manifest  the  thorough  return  to  the  state  of 
aboriginal  liberty  not  only  the  cattle,  but  the  wild  animals  are  to 
share  in  the  natural  growth  of  the  land.  The  wild  animals  would  be 
merely  those  which  are  innoxious  to  man,  and  are  allowed  to  exist  in 
a  land  of  civilization.  It  is  not  our  part  to  estimate  the  result  of  such 
a  regulation  as  this.  It  is  enough  to  observe  that  the  children  of  God 
would  be  secure  from  want  under  his  beneficent  providence,  and  that 
a  considerable  check  would  be  put  upon  human  cupidity.  Certain 
results  of  this  enactment  are  indicated  by  the  legislator  himself. 

8-12.  The  jubilee.  Thou  shalt  count  unto  thee.  Counting  is  a 
rational  process,  and  reminds  us  that  we  are  in  the  sphere  of  man 
communing  with  his  Maker.  Seveti  sabbaths  of  years,  seven  sabbatical 
years.  A  sabbath  of  a  year  is  a  sabbath  that  lasts  a  year,  in  contrast 
with  a  sabbath-day.  These  seven  sabbath-years  involve  seven  times 
seven  years,  or  nine  and  forty  years.     T7ie  trumpets  of  glad  sound^ 


288  SABBATICAL  YEAES. 

the  tentli  of  the  month ;  in  the  day  of  atonement  ye  shall  blow 
the  trumpet  in  all  your  land.  10.  And  ye  shall  hallow  the 
fiftieth  year,  and  proclaim  liberty  in  the  land  to  all  its  inhabi- 
tants :  it  shall  be  a  jubilee  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  return  every 
man  to  his  possession,  and  return  every  man  to  his  family. 

of  clangor,  or  joyful  acclaim.  In  the  seventh  month.  It  appears  that 
the  sabbatical  and  jubilee  years  began  in  the  seventh  month,  the  first 
month  of  the  primeval  year.  This  is  required  by  the  natural  history 
of  the  year.  The  sowing  time  in  Palestine  is  about  November,  and 
therefore  a  month  or  two  after  the  beginning  of  the  original  year, 
which  was  a  little  before  the  autumnal  equinox.  The  reaping  time  is 
after  the  vernal  equinox,  terminating  in  the  month  of  May,  and  the 
vintage  in  September.  Now,  if  the  sabbatical  year  began  in  Abib, 
about  the  vernal  equinox,  it  would  be  the  sowing  of  the  preceding 
year  that  would  be  left  unreaped,  instead  of  the  spontaneous  growth 
of  the  sabbatical  year,  which  is  contrary  to  the  text.  But  if  it  begin 
with  Tisri,  about  the  autumnal  equinox,  everything  is  in  its  natural 
order.  The  sowing  is  omitted  in  the  second  month,  and  the  natural 
growth  is  unreaped  in  the  eighth  or  ninth  month.  But  it  is  to  be 
observed  that  the  sacred  writer  reckons  the  months  according  to  the 
sacred  year ;  and,  as  the  civil  year  began  six  months  earlier,  the  first 
half  of  the  seventh  civil  year  would  be  the  second  half  of  the  sixth 
sacred  year.  On  the  tenth  of  the  month,  on  the  day  of  atonement  the 
trumpet  was  to  sound.  The  day  of  expiation,  of  ransom  for  sin,  of 
release  from  doom,  of  restoration  to  life,  liberty,  and  inheritance,  was 
singularly  appropriate  for  the  opening  of  the  jubilee.  10.  And  ye 
shall  hallow  the  fiftieth  year.  The  sabbatical  was  the  forty-ninth  year ; 
the  jubilee  is  the  fiftieth  It  is  hallowed  by  its  peculiar  ordinances 
concerning  liberty  and  property.  And  proclaim  liberty.  Liberty 
from  bondage  was  secured  to  every  Israelite  at  the  end  of  six  years 
by  the  civil  law  (Ex.  xxi.  2).  The  jubilee,  however,  gave  liberty  to 
the  serf  in  Israel  whose  term  was  not  otherwise  completed,  so  that  at 
one  and  the  same  time  for  this  year  men  were  free  all  over  the  land. 
A  jubilee  ^^  unto  you,  a  trumpet-note  of  deliverance,  a  twofold  de- 
liverance —  every  man  to  his  possession  and  every  man  to  his  family. 


LE'^TICUS  XXV.  10-16.  289 

11.  A  jubilee  shall  that  fiftieth  year  be  unto  you;  ye  shall 
not  sow  nor  reap  its  self-growth  nor  gather  its  nazaritc  vine. 

12.  For  it  is  the  jubilee,  it  shall  be  holy  unto  you ;  out  of  the 
field  ye  shall  eat  its  produce.  13.  In  this  year  of  the  jubilee 
ye  shall  return  every  man  unto  his  possession.  14.  And 
"wlien  thou  makest  a  sale  to  thy  neighbor  or  buyest  from  the 
hand  of  thy  neighbor,  oppress  ye  not  one  another.  15.  By 
the  number  of  years  after  tlie  jubilee  thou  shalt  buy  of  thy 
neighbor ;  by  tlie  number  of  years  of  the  crops  he  shall  sell  to 
thee.  IG.  According  to  the  multitude  of  the  years  thou  shalt 
increase  its  price,  and  according  to  the  fewness  of  the  years 
thou. shalt  diminish  its  price;   for  the  number  of  crops  he 

All  family  rights  of  liberty  and  projierty  are  restored;  all  the 
breaches  and  disturbances  of  the  last  forty-nine  years  are  healed  and 
repaired.  11.  That  fftieth  year  shall  be  like  the  forty-ninth  and  all 
seventh  years  before:  there  shall  be  no  sowing  nor  pruning,  no 
reaping  nor  gathering.  12.  It  is  the  jubilee,  a  holy  year  in  its  resti- 
tution of  al]  temporal  things.  Out  of  the  field,  in  common  with  all 
animated  nature,  not  out  of  the  private  store  gathered  in  this  year, 
for  there  shall  be  none  such,  ye  shall  eat  its  psoduce.  Such  is  the 
peculiar  institution  of  the  jubilee. 

13-34.  This  portion  of  the  chapter  treats  of  the  inalienable  inheri- 
tance of  an  Israelite,  under  two  heads,  sale  and  redemption.  First, 
of  sale  (13-24).  In  this  year  of  the  jubilee,  the  first  privilege  of  every 
Israelite  is  to  return  to  his  patrimonial  estate.  14.  Oppress  ye  not 
one  another.  In  buying  or  selling  there  is  to  be  no  fraud  or  violence, 
no  taking  advantage  of  the  necessities  of  any  party.  15.  The  number 
of  years  after  the  last  jubilee  is  to  be  deducted  from  the  full  number 
of  forty-nine,  and  the  number  of  crops  for  the  remainder  of  the  year 
is  all  that  can  be  bought  or  sold.  The  buyer  naturally  looks  to  the 
number  of  years  to  be  abated;  the  seller,  to  the  number  to  be 
reckoned  in  the  price.  16.  The  price  is  to  be  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  intervening  years.  So  the  land  was  not  bought,  but  only  the 
use  of  the  fruit  for  a  given  number  of  years.  17.  The  fear  of  the  Lord 
87 


290  SABBATICAL  YEARS. 

selleth  unto  thee.  17.  And  ys  shall  not  oppress  every  one  his 
neiglibor,  but  thou  shalt  fear  thy  God  :  for  I  am  the  Lord  your 
God.  18.  And  ye  shall  do  my  statutes  and  keep  my  judg- 
ments and  do  them ;  and  ye  shall  dwell  in  the  land  securely. 
19.  And  the  land  shall  yield  its  fruit,  and  ye  shall  eat 
enough,  and  ye  shall  dwell  on  it  securely.  20.  xVnd  if  ye 
say,  "What  shall  we  eat  the  seventh  year  ?  Lo,  we  shall  not 
sow  nor  gather  in  our  produce :  21.  Then  I  will  command 
my   blessing   upon   you    the   sixth    year,    and   it   shall   yield 

is  to  deter  from  oppression.  18.  Keep  my  judgments  and  do  them, 
give  heed  to  them  with  the  intent  of  doing  them,  and  carry  this  intent 
into  effect.  Dioell  in  the  land  securely^  relying  on  the  immutable 
promise  of  him  who  is  holy,  just,  and  true.  19.  Yield  its  fruit. 
Happiness,  consisting  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  all  things  needful, 
will  be  the  invariable  consequence  of  holiness.  20.  And  if  ye  say. 
This  is  the  question  of  him  who  looks  no  further  than  the  laws  of 
nature,  and  is  prone  to  conceive  them  absolutely  immutable,  or 
amenable  to  no  higher  law  than  he  has  observed.  We  shall  not  sow. 
We  are  required  not  to  take  the  only  means  known  to  us  of  providing 
for  our  daily  wants.  21,  /  will  command  my  blessing.  This  is  the 
higher  law,  to  which  nature  yields  obeisance.  Moral  ends  transcend 
physical.  Above  nature  is  the  God  of  nature  who  has  a  moral 
creation  to  which  the  natural  creation  is  merely  subservient.  Upon 
you,  who  bear  my  moral  image,  for  whom  the  earth  was  made.  Tlie 
sixth  year,  of  which  they  had  a  weekly  illustration  in  the  double 
manna  of  the  sixth  day.  Produce  for  three  years.  The  question  in 
the  letter  regarded  merely  the  sabbatical  year.  The  answer  reaches 
to  the  year  of  jubilee.  It  must  be  remembered,  as  has  been  noticed 
on  vs.  9,  that  the  first  half  of  the  seventh  civil  year  was  the  second 
half  of  the  sixth  sacred  year.  In  the  language  of  the  sacred  year, 
then,  which  is  that  of  the  text,  while  the  reaping  of  the  sixth  sacred 
year  was  also  that  of  the  sixth  civil  year,  occurring  in  the  first  half 
of  the  one  and  in  the  second  half  of  the  other,  yet,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  was  the  sowing  of  the  sixth  sacred  year  that  was  to  be  omitted  for 
the  seventh  or  sabbath  year ;  for  this  was  the  sowing  of  the  seventh 


LEVITICUS  XXV.  21-25.  201 

produce  for  three  years.  22.  And  ye  shall  sow  the  eighth 
year,  and  eat  of  the  old  produce  until,  the  mnth  year;  until 
its  produce  come  in  ye  shall  eat  the  old.  23.  And  the  land 
shall  not  be  sold  out  and  out :  for  the  land  is  mine ;  for  ye 
are  strangers  and  sojourners  with  me.  24.  And  in  all  the  land 
of  your  possession  ye  shall  grant  redemption  for  the  land.    § 

25.  If  thy  brother  fail  and  sell  part  of  his  possession,  bis 
redeemer  that  is  near  of  kin  shall  come  and  redeem  that  which 

civil  year.  In  like  manner,  it  was  the  sowing  of  the  seventh  sacred 
year  that  was  to  be  omitted  for  the  eighth  or  jubilee  year ;  for  this 
was  the  sowing  of  the  eighth  civil  year.  And  for  the  same  reason 
still  the  sowing  of  the  eighth  sacred  year,  which  is  spoken  of  in  vs. 
22,  is  that  of  the  ninth  civil  year,  which  is,  accordingly,  as  it  ought 
to  be,  the  year  after  the  jubilee.  "We  now  understand  produce  for 
three  years.  The  crop  of  the  sixth  sacred  year  is  blessed  so  as  to 
sufSce,  along  with  the  spontaneous  growth,  for  three  years.  There 
is  no  sowing  in  the  sixth  sacred  (seventh  civil)  year,  and  in  the  case 
of  the  jubilee  no  sowing  in  the  seventh  sacred  (eighth  civil)  year. 
22.  But  ye  shall  soio  in  the  eighth  year,  that  is,  the  eighth  sacred 
year,  or  the  first  half  of  the  ninth  civil  year.  Hence,  the  crop  of  the 
sixth  sacred  year  serves  from  the  opening  months  of  that  year  to  the 
opening  months  of  the  ninth  year.  '*  Until  its  produce  come  in,  ye 
shall  eat  of  the  old.  23.  Sold  out  and  out.  It  cannot  be  alienated 
beyond  redemption.  For  the  land  is  mine.  It  belonged  not  to  the 
people,  but  to  the  Lord,  who  did  not  therefore  allow  the  father  to 
alienate  from  the  son,  as  if  it  were  his  own  absolutely.  He  could  not 
encumber  it  beyond  the  fiftieth  year,  and  seldom  so  long.  Te  are 
strangers  and  sojourners  with  me.  The  land  is  for  you,  while  you 
are  on  it,  but  no  longer.  It  must  then  go  to  your  descendant  of  the 
next  generation.  24.  The  purchaser  is  even  bound  to  restore  it  to 
the  real  owner,  if  he  can  pay  the  proportion  of  the  purchase-money 
for  the  years  that  have  yet  to  run  till  the  jubilee. 

25-28.  Land  always  redeemable.  If  thy  brother  fail,  be  reduced 
to  poverty,  and  forced  to  sell  some  of  his  land.  His  redeemer.-^  This 
interesting  term,  which  occurs  so  early  as  Gen.  xlviii.  16,  where  it  is 


292  SABBATICAL  YEARS. 

his  brother  hath  sold.  26.  And  if  a  man  have  no  redeemer 
and  his  hand  reach  and  he  find  enough  to  redeem  it,  27.  Then 
he  shall  count  tlie  years  of  its  sale,  and  restore  the  surplus  to 
the  man  to  whom  he  sold  it ;  and  he  shall  return  to  his  pos- 
session. 28.  And  if  his  hand  find  not  enough  to  restore  to 
him,  then  that  which  is  sold  shall  remain  in  the  hands  of  the 
buyer  until  the  year  of  jubilee,  and  it  shall  go  out  in  the 
jubilee,  and  he  shall  return  to  his  possession.  § 

29.  And  if  a  man  sell  a  dwelling-house  in  a  walled  city, 
then  it  may  be  redeemed  until  the  end  of  the  year  after  its 
sale;  for  a  term  of  days  it  may  be  redeemed.  30.  And  if  it 
be  not  redeemed  until  the  whole  year  is  fulfilled,  then  the 
house  which  is  in  a  walled  city  standeth  out  and  out  to  the 
buyer  for  his  generations ;  it  shall  not  go  out  at  the  jubilee. 
81.  But  the  houses  of  villages  that  have  not  walls  around 

applied  to  the  Supreme  Being,  comes  from  a  root  signifying  to  loose, 
release,  deliver,  redeem.  Redeemer  is  the  term  least  open  to  ob- 
jection ;  but  it  is  too  narrow  for  the  original,  which  includes  the  functions 
of  redeeming  the  land,  ransoming  the  person,  avenging  the  death,  and 
perpetuating  the  line  of  him  to  whom  he  is  next  of  kin.  The  obli- 
gation of  the  next  of  kin  to  discharge  these  functions  was  held  to  be 
most  solemn  and  inviolable.  26.  No  redeemer,  no  near  kinsman,  such 
as  is  described  in  vs.  48,  49,  or  none  having  the  means  of  redemp- 
tion. He  may  himself,  by  his  industry,  earn  the  means  of  redemption. 
27.  The  purchaser  is  bound  to  accept  the  part  of  the  price  which  is 
proportional  to  the  remaining  years  till  the  jubilee,  and  return  the 
land  to  the  owner.  28.  In  the  third  place,  lie  may  have  neither 
redeemer  nor  means  of  redemption  ;  in  which  case  the  land  remains 
with  the  purchaser  till  the  jubilee,  and  then  returns  to  him  or  his  heir 
without  purchase. 

29—34.  A  house  when  redeemable,  and  when  not.  29.  A  dwellivg- 
house  in  a  walled  city,  if  sold,  may  be  redeemed  within  a  year.  For 
a  term  of  days.  Any  period  up  to  a  full  year  is  simply  a  number  of 
days.     30.  Standeth  out  and  out,  with  a  silencing,  cutting  off,  or  ex- 


LEVITICUS  XXV.  31-36.  293 

them  shall  be  counted  as  the  field  of  the  country :  such  may- 
be redeeuaed,  and  they  go  out  at  the  jubilee.  32.  But  the 
cities  of  the  Levites,  the  houses  of  the  cities  of  their  posses- 
sion, may  the  Levites  redeem  at  any  time.  33.  And  whosoever 
may  redeem  from  the  Levites,  the  sale  of  the  house  and  city 
of  his  possession  shall  go  out  in  the  jubilee ;  for  the  houses 
of  the  cities  are  their  possession  among  the  sons  of  Israel. 
34.  And  the  field  of  the  suburb  of  their  cities  shall  not  be 
sold  ;  for  it  is  their  perpetual  possession.  § 

35.  And  if  thy  brother  fail  and  his  hand  shake  with  thee, 
thou  shalt  hold  him  up,  a  stranger  and  sojourner  he  shall  live 
with  thee.  36.  Thou  shalt  not  take  of  him  usury  nor  increase, 
but  shalt  fear  thy  God,  and  thy  brother  shall  live  with  thee. 

tinction  of  all  claim  on  the  part  of  the  seller.  31.  The  houses  of 
villages,  that  are  not  walled.  These  are  to  be  counted  as  the  field. 
They  may  be  redeemed,  or  they  go  out  at  the  jubilee.  32.  The 
houses  of  the  cities  of  the  Levites  are  redeemable  at  any  length  of 
time  or  in  perpetuity.  The  reason  of  this  is  obvious.  They  have  no 
part  in  the  land,  and  these  houses  are  their  only  inheritance,  without 
which  they  would  have  no  habitation  in  the  land.  33.  May  redeem 
from  the  Levites.  The  cities  and  houses  of  the  Levites  were  given 
by  the  tribes  to  them  out  of  their  own  inheritance.  To  buy  back  any 
part  of  that  which  was  so  given  was  therefore  to  redeem  it.  But  the 
sale  on  the  part  of  the  Levite  could  only  be  for  the  number  of  years 
till  the  next  jubilee.  34.  The  field  of  the  suburb.  The  town  parks 
assigned  to  the  Levites  could  not  be  permanently  alienated,  as  they 
were  necessary  to  those  who  inhabited  the  town. 

35-55.  Concerning  the  serf  and  his  emancipation.  35-38.  The 
treatment  due  to  a  poor  brother.  If  thy  hrother  fail,  fall  into 
poverty.  And  his  hand  shake,  if  any  inability  to  earn  his  bread 
befall  him.  Thou  shalt  hold  him  up,  receive  him  as  a  stranger  and 
sojourner  into  thy  house,  giving  him  food  and  clothing,  and  receiving 
from  him  whatever  work  he  can  do.  36.  Neither  interest  nor  increase 
is  to  be  required  of  him.     Fear  thy  God.     The  fear  of  God  is  the 


294  SABBATICAL  YEARS. 

37.  Thy  money  thou  shalt  not  give  to  him  on  usury ;  nor  give 
him  thy  food  for  increase.  38.  I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  who 
have  brought  you  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim,  to  give  you  the 
land  of  Kenaan,  to  be  your  God.  § 

39.  And  if  thy  brother  fail  with  thee  and  be  sold  unto  thee, 
thou  shalt  not  lay  a  hard  service  on  him.  40.  As  a  hireling, 
as  a  sojourner,  he  shall  be  with  thee  ;  unto  the  year  of  jubilee 
he  shall  serve  with  thee.  41.  And  he  shall  go  out  from  thee, 
he  and  his  sons  with  him  ;  and  return  to  his  family  and  to  the 
possession  of  his  fathers  shall  he  return.  42.  For  they  are  my 
servants,  whom  1  brought  out  from  tlie  land  of  Mizraim  ;  they 
shall  not  be  sold  into  bondage.  43.  Thou  shalt  not  rule  over 
him  with  rigor,  but  shalt  fear  thy  God.  44.  And  thy  bond- 
motive  to  brotherly  kindness.  He  that  loveth  his  Heavenly  Father 
should  love  his  brother,  who  is  the  son  of  that  Father.  37.  The 
precept  of  disinterested  kindness  is  repeated  for  the  sake  of  emphasis. 

38.  The  reason  is  presented  again  in  a  still  more  impressive  form. 
/  am  the  Lord  your  God.  The  God  of  performance,  who  brought 
you  out  of  the  laud  of  bondage  ;  the  God  of  mercy,  who  forgave  and 
accepted  you  ;  your  God,  who  is  in  covenant  with  you,  and  conducts 
you  to  the  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  Go  thou,  and  do  with 
like  good-will  toward  thy  brother. 

39-46.  Kindness  to  the  serf.  The  impoverished  man  that  sells 
himself  to  his  brother  is  to  be  treated  not  as  a  bond-servant,  but  as  a 
hireling  or  a  sojourner,  a  laborer  hired  from  day  to  day,  or  a  sojourner 
who  labors  with  thee  for  a  longer  period  while  he  is  free.  And  he  is  to 
go  out  free  at  the  jubilee.  According  to  Ex.  xxi.  2,  the  Hebrew  serf 
was  to  go  free  after  six  years  of  serfdom.  The  approach  of  the  jubilee 
might  shorten  this  period  to  any  extent.  41.  He  and  his  sons.  They 
shall  recover  liberty  and  inheritance  at  the  same  time.  42.  My  ser- 
vants. No  other  man  may  treat  them  as  his  slaves.  They  shall  not 
be  sold  into  perpetual  bondage.  43.  The  fear  of  God  will  constrain 
thee  to  treat  his  servants  with  gentleness  and  consideration.  44-46. 
Shall  he  of  the  nations.     The   nations   have  forsaken   their  JMaker. 


LEVITICUS  XXV.  44-48.  295 

man  and  thy  bondmaid,  which  thou  shalt  have,  shall  be  of  the 
nations  that  are  around  you  ;  of  them  shall  ye  buy  bondman 
and  bondmaid.  45.  And  also  of  the  sons  of  the  sojourners  that 
dwell  among  you,  of  them  shall  ye  buy,  and  of  their  families 
that  are  with  you,  which  they  have  begotten  in  your  land  ;  and 
they  shall  be  your  possession.  46.  And  ye  shall  bequeath 
them  to  your  sons  after  you  to  hold  as  a  possession ;  yo  shall 
be  served  by  them  forever ;  but  over  your  brethren,  the  sons 
of  Israel,  thou  shalt  not  rule,  one  over  another,  with  rigor.  § 
47.  And  if  the  hand  of  a  stranger  and  sojourner  witli  thee 
avail,  and  thy  brother  fail  with  him  and  be  sold  to  the  stranger 
and  sojourner  with  thee,  or  to  the  stock  of  a  stranger's  family, 
48.  After  he  is  sold  he  may  be  redeemed  ;  one  of  his  brethren 

They  are  in  a  state  of  rebellion  against  him.  To  treat  them  as  slaves 
is  a  measure  of  punishment  for  this  crime  of  treason  against  heaven, 
which  the  God  of  heaven  is  warranted  to  inflict  by  bis  servants. 
Hence  the  children  of  Israel  were  allowed  to  purchase  and  hold  slaves 
of  the  Gentiles,  whether  belonging  to  other  lands  or  residing  among 
them,  and  to  bequeath  them  to  their  descendants.  It  is  to  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  if  they  were  incorporated  into  the  nation  by  cir- 
cumcision, they  were  to  be  treated  as  natives  ;  and  also  that  no  other 
nation,  much  less  church,  has  ever  received  a  similar  commission  con- 
cerning the  rest  of  the  human  race.  Now  that  the  Gentiles  under 
the  Christian  dispensation  are  invited  to  accept  the  life,  inheritance, 
and  liberty  of  the  gospel  of  salvation,  such  a  commission  would  be 
altogether  incongruous  with  the  spirit  of  the  message,  and  can  never 
be  renewed.     See  on  the  law  of  serfdom  in  Israel,  Ex.  xxi.  1-11. 

47-55.  The  law  regarding  an  Israelite  who  had  become  a  serf  to 
a  Gentile.  47,  48.  If  the  hand.  Hence  it  appears  that  a  stranger 
sojourning  among  the  Israelites  might  attain  to  wealth,  while  an 
Israelite  might  sink  into  poverty.  This  indicates  that  the  civil  polity 
of  Israel  was  not  adverse  to  the  prosperity  of  Gentiles  residing  among 
them.  The  Israelite  sold  to  a  foreigner  may  be  redeemed  at  any 
time.     The  foreigner  must  be  residing  in  the  laud  of  Israel,  in  ordei 


296  SABBATICAL  YEAES. 

may  redeem  him.  49.  Or  liis  uncle  or  his  uncle's  son  may 
redeem  him,  or  any  of  the  near  kinsmen  of  his  family  may 
redeem  him ;   or  if  his  hand  avail  he  may  redeem  himself. 

50.  And  he  shall  reckon  with  his  buyer,  from  the  year  of  his 
sale  to  the  year  of  jubilee ;  and  the  price  of  his  sale  shall  be 
according  to  the  number  of  years ;  as  the  days  of  a  hireling 
shall  he  be  with  him.  51.  If  there  be  yet  many  years,  accord- 
ing to  them  he  shall  restore  his  ransom  out  of  the  money  of 
his  purchase.  52.  And  if  few  years  remain  until  the  year 
of  jubilee  and  he  reckon  with  him,  according  to  his  years  he 
shall  return  his  ransom  price.  53.  As  a  yearly  hireling  sliall 
he  be  with  him  ;  he  shall  not  rule  over  him  with  rigor  in  thy 
siglit.  54.  And  if  he  be  not  redeemed  by  these,  then  he  shall 
go  out  in  the  year  of  jubilee,  he  and  his  sons  with  him. 
55.  For  unto  me  are  the  sons  of  Israel  servants ;   they  are 

to  be  amenable  to  the  laws  of  Israel.  49.  A  brother,  uncle,  cousin, 
or  other  near  kinsman  may  in  this  case  undertake  the  function  of  the 
goel.  This  obligation  appears  to  extend  to  the  next  of  kin,  however 
remote.  If  his  hand  avail.  This  implies  that  the  serf,  even  under  a 
Gentile,  might  have  some  means  of  realizing  money.  50.  As  the 
days  of  a  hireling.  The  Israelite  serf  was  to  be  redeemable  at  any 
time,  so  that  his  term  of  service  might  end  like  that  of  a  hireling. 

51,  52.  The  ransom  price  will  vary  according  to  the  number  of  years 
the  state  of  bondage  has  yet  to  run ;  and  it  cannot  run  beyond  the 
jubilee.  53.  The  master  is  to  be  merciful  to  his  serf.  He  is  to  deal 
with  him  as  with  a  free  man  who  is  hired  from  day  to  day.  ///  thy 
sight.  This  is  addressed  to  the  magistrate,  who  is  to  have  his  eyes  open 
to  the  treatment  of  the  serf,  and  take  measures  that  it  be  dictated  not 
by  rigor,  but  by  kindness.  54.  Not  redeemed  hy  these  friends  or  means. 
If  he  have  no  kinsman  or  none  able  to  redeem  him,  and  do  not  attain 
the  means  of  redeeming  himself,  he  shall  go  out  free  at  the  jubilee, 
and  his  children  with  him.  55.  The  Israelite  is  God's  servant,  and 
therefore  no  other  can  have  the  right  of  a  master  over  Iiim.  They 
are  my  servants.     lie  has  brought  them  out  of  bondage  to  the  heathen. 


LE\aTICUS  XXV.  55.  297 

my  servants,  whom  I  brought  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim ;  I 
am  the  Lord  your  God. 

lam  the  Lord  your  God.  This  pregnant  sentence  needs  to  be  again 
and  again  repeated,  that  this  infant  people  may  at  length  come  to 
understand  its  import.  It  involves  the  obligations  of  power,  love,  and 
reason.  You  should  know  him ;  for  he  has  made  you  rational  and 
intelligent.  You  should  love  him  ;  for  he  is  your  God,  your  Father, 
Deliverer,  Quickener.  You  should  obey  him ;  for  he  has  the  right 
of  creation  and  preservation  over  you. 

The  jubilee  rises  over  the  sabbatical  year,  as  the  day  of  Pentecost 
was  over  the  weekly  sabbath.  Each  was  the  fiftieth  after  seven 
sabbaths.  As  the  sabbath-day  was  a  day  of  release  from  the  payment 
of  debt,  because  no  business  was  to  be  transacted  on  that  day,  so  the 
sabbath-year  was  a  year  of  release  from  the  payment  of  a  debt 
(Deut.  XV.),  because  a  debt  could  not  ordinarily  be  paid  when  there 
was  no  sowing  or  reaping.  As  the  sabbath-day  was  an  occasion  of 
rejoicing  in  the  liberty  of  rest  from  labor,  so  the  day  of  Pentecost  was 
an  occasion  of  rejoicing  in  the  liberty  of  abundance  of  the  means  of 
life  in  the  harvest  reaped.  As  the  sabbath-year  affords  a  release  at 
the  same  time  from  toil  and  from  the  demand  of  the  creditor,  so  the 
year  of  Pentecost  affords  the  unmeasured  blessings  of  freedom  from 
bondage,  and  restoration  to  all  the  rights  of  property.  But  the  whole 
economy  of  Israel  was  a  type  of  higher  things,  of  things  in  the  church 
on  earth  in  its  wider  range,  and  of  things  in  the  general  assembly  and 
church  of  the  first-born  who  are  written  in  heaven.  So  it  is  with  the 
jubilee.  It  affords  to  the  prophetic  seer  a  fine  figure  of  the  advent 
of  Messiah  and  of  the  effect  of  his  mission.  The  Lord  hath  sent  him 
to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted,  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captive  and 
the  opening  of  the  prison  to  the  bound,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year 
of  the  Lord  and  the  day  of  vengeance  of  our  God,  and  to  restore  them 
by  a  new  birth  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and  undefiled  and  that 
fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  those  who  are  kept  by  the 
power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation. 

It  may  be  said  with  truth  that  these  ordinances,  the  primitive  sim- 
plicity of  which  awakens  in  the  unsophisticated  heart  some  touch  of 
romance  and  enthusiasm,  failed  to  produce  all  the  holy  and  happy 


298  AN  ADMONITION. 

results  which  they  were  calculated  to  effect.  The  sabbath-day,  the 
cycle  of  annual  festivals,  the  sabbath-year,  and  the  jubilee  fell  into 
oblivion  and  neglect,  and  the  chosen  people,  during  a  long  history  of 
more  than  twenty  centuries,  again  and  again  forsook  the  Lord  God 
of  their  fathers  and  served  other  gods,  or  served  the  true  God  with  a 
show  of  wisdom  in  will-worship  which  came  to  be  contrary  to  the 
main  spirit  and  letter  of  divine  revelation.  Nevertheless,  by  these 
significant  institutions,  and  the  written  revelation  in  which  they  were 
embodied  and  illustrated,  a  seed  of  divine  truth  Avas  planted  in  the 
heart  and  memory  of  man  which  has  not  died  out  after  the  space  of 
twenty-four  centuries.  Through  these  years  of  struggle  and  persecu- 
tion it  has  brought  to  the  birth  of  a  new  and  holy  existence  all  that 
have  adorned  the  profession  of  an  Israelite  or  a  Christian  indeed,  in 
whom  is  no  guile.  And  at  this  day  it  maintains  the  spiritual  life  of 
all  Christendom,  fills  and  extends  the  boundaries  of  civilization,  and 
makes  its  benign  influence  felt  to  the  utmost  limits  of  the  human  race. 
It  has  not  therefore  been  sown  in  vain ;  and  it  is  destined  eventually 
to  accomplish  the  whole  purpose  for  which  it  was  sent. 

NOTES. 
5.  Self-growth,  n'^aD,that  which  grows  spontaneously;  aL-rJ/xara; 
r.  add,  pour  out.     Nazarite,  "i^tS ,  separate,  solitary,  undressed ;  d-yt- 
ao-jaa ;  r.  separate,  consecrate.     The  original  is  retained,  as  it  is  by  the 
English  version  in  Num.  vi.,  to  indicate  the  connection. 

9.  Glad  sound,  ns^iin ,  trumpet  blast ;  (f>wvrj ;  r.  ring,  clang,  shout. 

10.  Jubilee,  ^31"^,  acclaim,  joyful  sound;  a-rjfjiacria,  signal;  r.  erg, 
shout  for  jog. 

23.  Out  and  out,  rr^^b  ,  to  extinction  ;  eh  /3e/5atWtv;  r.  cut  off,  silence. 
25.  Redeemer,  hvA ,  releaser,  upholder,  avenger ;  dyp^io-rew'toi'. 

XXVI.    AN  ADMONITION. 

This  chapter  stands  to  the  book  of  Leviticus  as  Ex.  xxiii.  20-83  to 
the  code  of  civil  law  contained  in  Ex.  xxi.-xxiii.  It  holds  out  a 
promise  of  jirotection  and  prosperity  in  the  land,  as  the  latter  passage 
gives  an  assurance  of  guidance  on  the  way  to  it.  It  opens  with  a 
prohibition  of  idolatry  (1,  2),  puts  on  record  a  glowing  promise  of 
prosperity  to  those  who  obey  the  law  (3-13),  pronounces  a  solemn 


LEVITICUS  XXVI.  1, 2.  299 

XXVI.  1.  Ye  shall  not  make  for  you  false  gods  nor  rear 
up  for  you  a  graven  image  nor  a  pillar,  nor  set  up  a  figured 
stone  in  your  land,  to  bow  down  to  it ;  for  I  am  the  Lord  your 
God.  2.  My  sabbaths  ye  shall  keep  and  fear  my  sanctuary.  I 
am  the  Lord.  33  <[[  *|[  «i]" 

sentence  of  chastisement  on  the  disobedient,  arranged  in  an  ascending 
scale  of  five  successive  stages  (14-33),  and  closes  with  a  statement 
of  the  end  sought  by  the  corrective  judgments  accumulated  on  the 
people,  namely,  that  the  land  may  enjoy  its  sabbaths  and  the  people 
may  be  brought  to  repentance  (34—46).  This  remarkable  warning 
turns  out  to  be  a  no  less  remarkable  foreboding  of  the  future  history 
of  the  people  down  to  the  times  of  the  New  Testament.  It  stands 
here  as  a  part  of  the  communication  begun  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
to  which  it  contains  many  allusions. 

I,  2.  The  prohibition  of  the  worship  of  false  gods.  Ye  shall  not 
make  for  you.  They  were  made  either  by  the  imagination  of  the 
worshippers  or  by  the  hands  of  the  artist.  False  gods,  gods  of  a  mis- 
guided imagination  that  have  no  reality,  or  relics  of  a  traditionary  idea 
of  God  which  have  gained  many  elements  of  falsehood  and  lost  the 
essentials  of  truth.  This  is  the  breach  of  the  first  commandment. 
Nor  rear  up.  There  is  to  be  no  making  nor  rearing  up,  much  less 
worshipping,  of  idols.  Some  think  that  they  may  use  the  image,  if 
they  do  not  worship  it.  That  is  not  the  doctrine  or  demand  of  Scripture. 
A  graven  image.  This  is  the  breach  of  the  second  commandment. 
The  debased  mind  cannot  rest  satisfied  without  a  visible  figure  of 
the  deity,  or  at  least  a  typical  object  of  worship.  The  former  is  the 
graven  image  which  aims  at  giving  some  analagous  conception  of  the 
deity,  and  soon  falls  into  the  error  of  confounding  the  substance  with 
the  shadow.  The  latter  is  the  pillar,  which  belongs  to  a  ruder  and 
severer  mode  of  deviating  into  error.  A  figured  stone.  The  image 
was  i^robably  of  wood.  The  figured  stone  differs  from  the  pillar  in 
being  carved  into  the  form  of  an  idol,  or  with  figures  or  symbols  on 
its  surface.  For  I  am  the  Lord  your  God.  I,  who  have  given  you 
all  this  instruction  concerning  my  essence  and  purpose,  am  the  Lord 
your  God.  This  sentence  expresses  the  fundamental  principle  of  all 
religion,  and  has  often  been  explained.     It  must  be  stamped  in  letters 


300  AN  ADMONITION. 

3.  If  ye  walk  in  my  statutes  and  keep  my  commandments 
and  do  them,  4.  Then  I  will  give  your  showers  in  their 
season,  and  the  land  shall  yield  its  increase  and  the  tree  of  the 
field  shall  yield  its  fruit.  5.  And  the  threshing  shall  reach 
for  you  the  vintage,  and  the  vintage  shall  reach  the  seed-time ; 
and  ye  shall  eat  your  bread  to  the  full,  and  dwell  securely  in 

t 
of  light  on  the  mind  of  the  Israehte.  Hence  it  is  rejjeated  again  and 
again.  It  contains  the  reason  for  avoiding  all  idolatry.  Mij  sabbaths, 
my  sanctuary ;  the  time  and  place  of  worship.  The  weekly  sabbath 
and  the  day  of  atonement  were  to  be  celebrated  by  a  total  cessation 
of  business.  The  other  six  days  of  holy  convocation  released  the 
laborer  from  his  toil,  while  they  did  not  require  the  abandonment  of 
lighter  occupations.  The  sabbatical  and  jubilee  years  are  equally  in 
favor  of  the  men  of  toil.  And  hence  the  sabbath  of  the  land  was  truly 
to  it  a  sabbath  of  rest.  The  holy  place  was  the  tabernacle  and  its  pre- 
cincts. But  the  place  of  convocation  in  all  their  villages  and  the 
home  of  every  family  had  each  its  own  peculiar  sanctity  which  was  to 
be  truly  revered.  The  sabbaths  and  the  sanctuary  mean  here,  all  the 
sacred  lessons,  exercises,  and  habits  which  are  connected  with  the 
time  and  the  place. 

3-13.  The  promise  to  those  who  keep  the  law.  3.  The  condition 
stated.  The  people  have  been  accepted.  They  are  now  to  be 
regarded  as  a  holy  nation,  circumcised  in  heart,  and  therefore  fitted 
by  divine  grace  to  walk  in  the  statutes  of  God.  To  such  the  condition 
is  proper.  4.  Tour  showers.  Rain  is  the  source  of  vegetable  growth. 
It  is  therefore  the  antecedent  of  corn  and  wine.  In  their  season. 
The  autumnal  rains  begin  usually  in  the  end  of  October  or  beginning 
of  November  when  the  seed  was  sown.  They  continue  at  intervals 
during  November  and  December.  The  spring  rains  cease  in  the 
month  of  March.  These  are  called  the  early  and  the  latter  rains 
which  water  the  newly-sown  fields  and  the  full-grown  grain.  Rain 
ceases  during  the  harvest  in  May  and  all  the  summer.  By  these 
showers  in  their  season  the  land  yields  its  increase  and  the  tree  its 
fruit.  5.  The  threshing  beginning  in  May  or  June  will  reach  to  the 
vintage  beginning  in  July,  and  that  to  the  seed-time  in  Octolter  and 


LEVITICUS  XXVI.  5-13.  OQl 

your  land.  6.  And  I  will  give  peace  in  the  laud,  and  ye  shall 
lie  down  and  none  make  you  afraid ;  and  I  will  rid  the  evil 
beast  out  of  the  land,  and  the  sword  shall  not  pass  through 
your  land.  7.  And  ye  shall  chase  your  enemies,  and  they 
shall  fall  before  you  by  the  sword.  8.  And  five  of  you  shall 
chase  a  hundred,  and  a  hundred  of  you  shall  chase  ten  thou- 
sand;  and  your  enemies  shall  fall  before  you  by  the  sword. 
9.  And  I  will  regard  you  and  make  you  fruitful,  and  multiply 
you,  and  establish  my  covenant  with  you.  10.  And  ye  shall 
eat  old  store,  and  bring  out  the  old  because  of  the  new. 
11.  And  I  will  set  my  tabernacle  among  you,  and  my  soul 
shall  not  abhor  you.  12.  And  I  will  walk  among  you,  and  I 
will  be  your  God,  and  ye  shall  be  my  people.  13.  I  am  the 
Lord  your  God  who  have  brought  you  out  of  the  land  of  Miz- 

Kovember.  Plenty  and  security  are  the  promised  blessings  of  this 
verse.  6.  And  Twill  give  peace.  The  wonted  state  of  your  land  will 
be  peace  in  the  pregnant  sense  of  the  absence  of  the  violent  man,  the 
evil  beast,  and  the  sword.  7,  8.  And  Jive  of  you  shall  chase  a  hundred. 
Victory  will  crown  your  army  when  an  enemy  appears.  9.  I  will  regard 
you,  have  my  eye  upon  you  for  good.  Here  are  four  blessings  in  this 
verse  :  favor,  fruitfulness,  multiplication,  and  stability  of  covenant  from 
God.  10.  Superabundance.  The  old  store  will  yet  be  unexhausted 
when  the  new  fruits  come  in.  11.  I  will  set  my  tabernacle.  He  will 
dwell  among  them,  holding  daily  intercourse  with  them.  My  soul 
shall  not  abhor  you  ;  a  very  singular  phrase,  intimating  that  there  is 
moral  deformity  in  them  on  account  of  which  they  might  be  justly 
abhorred,  but  at  the  same  time  implying  that  propitiation  has  been 
made  and  purification  begun.  12.  I  will  walk  among  you,  li^iva  ])eT- 
sonal  and  practical  intercourse  with  you.  The  covenant  relation  is 
expressed  in  the  affecting  words,  "  I  will  be  your  God,  and  ye  shall 
be  my  people  " ;  your  God,  forgiving  and  accepting  you ;  my  people, 
penitent  and  confiding  towards  me.  13.  The  promise  now  closes  with 
the  standing  watchword,  "I  am  the  Lord  your  God,"  and  the  historical 
appeal  to  what  he  had  already  done  for  them,  which  was  a  pledge  of 


302  ^N  ADMONITION. 

raim  from  being  their  bondmeu ;  and  I  brake  the  bars  of  your 
yoke,  and  made  you  walk  upright. 

14.  And  if  ye  hearken  not  unto  me  nor  do  all  these  my 
commandments,  15.  And  if  ye  despise  my  statutes,  and  if 
your  soul  ablior  my  judgments,  so  that  ye  do  not  all  my 
commandments,  but  break  my  covenant,  16.  I  also  will  do 
this  unto  you,  and  I  will  appoint  over  you  terror,  decay,  and 
fever,  consuming  the  eyes  and  wasting  the  soul ;  and  ye  shall 

the  performance  of  all  that  was  now  promised.  Brake  the  bars  of  your 
yohe,  and  made  you  walk  vprigld.  A  strong  and  impressive  figure  to 
exhibit  to  them  the  new-born  hberty  into  which  they  were  now  intro- 
duced. It  is  taken  from  the  bar  of  wood  which  was  bent  round  the 
necks  of  oxen  and  fastened  to  the  pole  or  yoke.  The  breaking  of 
this  yoke  off  the  necks  of  the  Israelites  enabled  them  to  walk  uprightly. 
There  is  a  regular  gradation  in  these  ten  verses  of  promise.  First  are 
placed  the  material  blessings  in  seven  verses  and  then  the  spiritual  in 
three.  Rain,  peace,  and  the  favor  of  Providence,  with  their  natural 
consequences  make  up  the  temporal  blessings.  To  dwell  with  them, 
walk  with  them,  and  be  their  covenant  God  are  the  spiritual 
blessings. 

14-33.  The  threat  against  disobedience.  14-17.  Tlie  first  correc- 
tion for  disobedience.  14,  15.  The  case  of  disobedience  put  in  four 
successive  stages :  if  ye  hearken  not,  do  not  my  commandments, 
despise  my  statutes,  and  your  soul  abhor  my  judgments.  Here  is 
evidently  a  climax  in  sinful  habit  going  on  from  simple  inattention  to 
the  abhorrence  of  the  inmost  soul.  Again,  the  object  is  first  "me," 
then  my  commandments,  the  moral  law  especially,  next  my  statutes, 
the  positive  enactments  of  the  theocracy,  and,  lastly,  my  judgments,  the 
decisions  which  affirm  principles  and  afford  precedents  for  future 
guidance.  The  result  of  this  state  of  the  moral  habit  is  disobedience 
and  consequent  breach  of  covenant.  16.  The  following  two  verses 
contain  the  corrective  judgments  which  will  in  this  case  be  sent  upon 
them.  Terror,  a  mental  aflliction,  the  sure  consequence  of  an  evil 
conscience.  Decay  and  fever,  contrasted  kinds  of  bodily  disease. 
Consuming  the  eyes.     The  dull  eye  is  the  invariable  mark  of  wasted 


LEVITICUS  XXYI.  16-21.  g03 

SOW  your  seed  in  vain  and  your  enemies  shall  eat  it.  17.  And 
I  will  set  my  face  against  you,  and  ye  shall  he  smitten  hefore 
your  enemies  ;  and  they  that  hate  you  shall  rule  over  you, 
and  ye  shall  flee  when  none  chaseth  you. 

18.  And  if  on  this  ye  hearken  not  unto  me,  then  I  will  yet 
chastise  you  seven  times  for  your  sins.  19.  And  I  will  break 
the  pride  of  your  strength  ;  and  I  will  make  your  sky  as  iron 
and  your  land  as  brass.  20.  And  your  strength  shall  be  spent 
in  vain,  and  your  land  shall  not  yield  its  increase,  nor  the  tree 
of  the  land  yield  its  fruit. 

21.  And  if  ye  walk  against  me  and  do  not  wish  to  hearken 
unto  me,  then  I  will  add  seven  strokes  unto  you  for  your  sins. 

powers.  And  wasting  the  soul,  wearing  out  the  animal  life,  which  is 
the  effect  of  fever.  Sow  your  seed  in  vain.  The  seed  sown  either 
does  not  ri23en  or  is  devoured  by  the  enemy.  17.  I  will  set  my  face 
against  you,.  Then  all  things  work  together  against  them.  They 
shall  be  smitten  by  the  enemy,  ruled  over  by  their  foes,  and  shall 
even  flee  when  no  man  pursueth. 

18-20.  The  second  correction,  if  disobedience  be  continued.  ]  8.  And 
if  on  this,  notwithstanding  all  these  chastisements.  Seven  times,  a 
complete  number  of  judgments,  leaving  no  excuse  from  insufficient 
warning  or  rebuke.  19.  Break  the  pride.  It  is  pi-ide  of  strength 
that  tempts  to  self-confidence  and  self-will.  It  is  the  great  antagonist 
of  God,  and  must  fall.  Your  shj  as  iron,  and  therefore  no  showers  in 
their  season.  Tour  land  as  brass,  and  therefore  no  growth  of  seed 
sown,  nor  budding  of  the  vine.  20.  Tour  strength  shall  be  spent  in 
vain.  The  simple  withholding  of  one  blessing,  rain,  will  make  all 
your  strength  be  spent  in  vain.  The  land  will  yield  no  increase,  the 
tree  no  fruit. 

21,  22.  The  third  correction,  if  they  still  persist  in  backsliding, 
21.  If  ye  walk  against  me.  Hitherto  it  has  been,  "  if  ye  hearken  not 
unto  me  " ;  now  it  is,  "  if  ye  walk  against  me,"  implying  no  longer 
inattention,  but  active  opposition  to  God.  Tlien  I  will  add.  The 
judgments  are  cumulative.     Seven  strokes.     Another  complete  series 


304  A^  ADMONITION. 

22.  And  I  will  send  upon  you  the  wild  beast  and  it  shall 
bereave  you,  and  cut  off  your  cattle  and  make  you  few,  and 
your  highways  shall  be  desolate. 

23.  And  if  on  this  ye  be  not  chastened  for  me,  and  walk 
against  me,  24.  Then  I  also  will  walk  against  you,  and  I  also 
will  smite  you  seven  times  for  your  sins.  25.  And  I  will 
bring  upon  you  a  sword  that  will  avenge  the  covenant :  and 
ye  shall  be  gathered  in  your  cities,  and  I  will  send  a  pestilence 
among  you,  and  ye  shall  be  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the 
enemy.  26.  When  I  break  the  staff  of  your  bread  ten  women 
shall  bake  your  bread  in  one  oven  and  return  your  bread  by 
weight ;  and  ye  shall  eat  and  not  be  satisfied.  § 

of  chastisements  will  be  inflicted.  22.  The  wild  beast.  This  indicates 
the  wasting  of  their  strength  and  the  decrease  of  population.  Bereave 
you,  rob  you  of  your  children,  cut  off  your  cattle,  diminish  your  num- 
bers, and  cause  your  roads  to  be  unfrequented. 

23-2 G.  The  fourth  correction,  on  persisting  in  apostasy.  23.  And 
if  on  this  ye  he  not  chastened.  If  the  accumulated  troubles  of  the  past 
have  not  the  effect  of  humbling  you  and  awakening  repentance,  as 
they  might  have  done,  other  measures  still  are  to  be  tried.  24,  I  also 
will  walk  against  you.  Punishment  is  retributive.  Smite  you  seven 
times.  This  is  a  sevenfold  stroke  of  retribution,  in  which  their  oppo- 
sition only  encounters  a  mightier  opj^osition.  They  run  only  on  the 
thick  bosses  of  his  buckler.  2b.  A  sword  that  will  avenge  the  covenant. 
This  is  the  sword  of  a  mighty  conqueror  whom  the  Lord  will  now 
raise  up  against  them.  This  is  the  walking  against  them  of  which  he 
speaks.  It  will  avenge  a  broken,  down-trodden  covenant,  the  cove- 
nant of  the  God  of  mercy,  which  they  have  dishonored.  The  usual 
calamities  of  war  are  now  depicted.  They  will  be  beseiged  in  their 
cities,  visited  with  the  pestilence,  and  delivered  into  captivity.  26.  / 
will  break  the  staff  of  bread.  In  addition  to  the  sword,  famine  will 
desolate  the  land.  Ten  women  will  prepare  the  bread  for  a  whole 
city.  In  one  oven,  which  will  be  sufhcient  for  the  scanty  supply. 
By  weight,  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  the  means  of  life.     "Ye  shall 


LEA^TICUS  XXVI.  27-30.  305 

27.  And  if  on  this  ye  hearken  not  unto  me,  and  walk  against 
me,  28.  Then  I  will  walk  against  you  in  fury,  and  I,  even  I, 
will  chasten  yon  seven  times  for  your  sins.  29.  And  ye  shall 
eat  the  flesh  of  your  sons  and  the  flesh  of  your  daughters  shall 
ye  eat.  80.  And  I  will  destroy  your  high  places  and  cut 
down  your  sun-stocks,  and  cast  your  carcasses  upon  the  carcasses 
of  your  blocks,  and  my  soul  shall  abhor  you.     31.  And  I  will 

eat  and  not  be  satisfied."     Here  is  an  accumulation  of  miseries  on  the 
head  of  the  obstinately  disobedient  people. 

27-33.  The  fifth  and  final  correction.  Its  consequences  are  depicted 
in  the  remainder  of  the  chapter.  27,  28.  I  will  walk  against  you  in 
fury.  If,  in  this  weakened,  wasted,  vanquished  condition,  they  still  walk 
against  God,  they  will  be  visited  by  a  still  more  severe  retribution,  a 
walking  in  fury,  and  a  sevenfold  chastisement  for  their  sins.  29.  The 
dire  necessities  and  extremities  of  famine  are  here  described.  Such 
revolting  acts  are  recorded  in  the  seige  of  Samaria  by  the  Syrians 
(2  Kings  vi.  28,  29),  in  the  seige  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Chaldeans 
(Lam.  ii.  20 ;  iv.  10),  and  in  the  seige  of  the  same  city  by  Titus  (Joseph. 
Bell.  Jud.  V.  10,  3).  The  seer  has  his  eye  upon  the  dark  scenes  of 
the  future.  30.  The  cause  of  all  their  disaster  is  unveiled  in  the  next 
stroke.  1  will  destroy  your  high  places.  The  false  gods  in  whom 
they  put  their  trust  will  be  destroyed.  The  high  places  were  the 
altars  and  other  religious  erections  on  hills,  at  which  either  the  true 
God  was  unlawfully  worshipped,  or  idolatry  was  openly  practised. 
Svn  stocls ""  were  cones,  pyramids,  or  other  figures  representing  the 
sun  as  worshipped  under  the  title  Baal-chammon,  or  lord  of  heat.  The 
Phenicians  and  Persians  were  votaries  of  a  deity  of  fire  under  different 
forms.  Blocks,^  or  logs  or  stones.  These  were  pieces  of  wood  or 
etone  resembling  or  representing  some  object  of  idolatrous  worship. 
The  worshipper  and  the  worshipped  are  here  involved  in  the  same 
ruin.  It  is  very  significant  to  find  this  word  so  familiar  in  the  time  of 
Ezekiel.  And  my  soid  shall  ahhor  you.  This  is  the  contrast  to  the 
promise  in  vs.  11.  The  absolute  Fountain  of  reason  must  abhor 
all  such  unreason  in  opinion  or  intention  as  is  involved  in  the  Avorship 
of  stocks  or  stones,  as  well  as  in  the  practice  of  any  form  of  presump- 
39 


30G  -^^  ADMONITION. 

make  your  cities  waste  and  desolate  your  sanctuaries,  and  1 
will  not  smell  your  sweet  odors.  32.  And  I  will  desolate  the 
land ;  and  your  enemies  that  dwell  in  it  shall  be  amazed  at  it. 
33.  And  T  will  scatter  you  among  the  nations  and  draw  out  a 
sword  after  you  ;  and  your  land  shall  be  desolate  and  your 
cities  waste. 

tuous  sin.  31.  The  scene  of  dreary  desolation  rises  more  and  more 
plainly  before  the  eye.  I  will  make  your  cities  waste.  The  siege  is 
at  an  end,  the  inhabitants  are  gone.  And  desolate  your  sanctuaries. 
Apart  from  its  importance  in  the  scene  of  ruin,  this  pkiral  term  has  an 
interest  of  its  own.  It  contemiolates  a  plurality  of  sanctuaries  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  nation  when  settled  in  the  country  assigned  to 
it,  and  covering  an  extent  of  territory  and  having  an  amount  of  popu- 
lation which  would  render  it  inconvenient  or  impossible  for  all  to  fulfil 
their  religious  obligations  at  the  one  central  sanctuary.  Only  the 
national  representative  worship  could  be  duly  performed  at  one  centre 
even  for  so  small  a  country  as  Palestine.  The  private  duties  of  reli- 
gion needed  local  sanctuaries  at  least  as  numerous  as  the  tribes ;  and 
in  the  event  of  the  extension  of  the  commonwealth  of  Israel  by  inter- 
nal growth  and  by  the  accession  of  proselytes  from  the  nations,  new 
local  sanctuaries  would  have  to  be  continually  added.  It  is  evident 
from  this  passage  that  it  was  not  designed  to  confine  the  offering  of 
sacrifices  on  the  part  of  individuals  and  families  to  one  sole,  central 
place.  I  will  not  smile.  This  is  an  intimation  that  he  will  no  longer 
be  propitious.  The  time  of  acceptance  is  past.  They  have  trodden 
under  foot  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant.  Tliere  remaineth 
no  more  sacrifice  for  sin.  32.  I  will  desolate  the  land.  As  the  Amo- 
rites  before  thena,  so  now  the  chosen  people  are  swept  away  from  the 
land.  The  conquerors  who  possess  and  dwell  in  it  are  amazed  at  its 
desolation.  33.  This  verse  gives  the  last  stroke  to  the  picture.  I  will 
scatter  you  among  the  nations.  While  their  land  lies  waste  and  their 
cities  in  ruins,  they  themselves  are  dispersed  among  the  nations  and 
the  sword  unsheathed  against  them.  More  than  once  has  this  descrip- 
tion been  realized  in  the  history  of  this  people.  They  were  carried 
away  into  captivity  in  part  by  Tiglath-pileser  (2  Kings  xv.  29),  by 


LEVITICUS  XXVI.  33-36.  307 

84.  Then  sliall  the  land  enjoy  its  sabbaths  all  the  days  of  its 
desolation,  while  ye  are  in  the  land  of  your  enemies ;  then 
shall  the  land  rest  and  enjoy  its  sabbaths.  35.  All  the  days 
of  its  desolation  it  shall  rest,  because  it  did  not  rest  in  your 
sabbaths,  when  ye  dwelt  upon  it.  36.  And  upon  them  that 
are  left  among  you  I  will  send  a  faintness  into  their  hearts  in 
the  lands  of  their  enemies,  and  the  sound  of  a  falling  leaf 

Shalmaneser  (2  Kings  xviii.  29),  and  by  Nebuchadnezzar  on  three 
several  occasions.  Returning  after  seventy  years  of  captivity  they 
remained  in  their  own  country  with  various  fortune  until  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem  by  Titus,  which  terminated  in  the  razing  of  the  walls  and 
the  burning  of  the  temple.  For  eighteen  centuries  from  that  event 
they  have  been  without  a  country,  and  are  at  this  day  scattered  among 
the  nations.  The  prophetic  picture,  melancholy  though  it  is,  has  been 
fully  borne  out  by  the  reality. 

34-46.  The  ends  contemplated  in  these  multiplied  chastisements. 
These  are  chiefly  two.  The  land  is  to  enjoy  its  sabbaths  and  the  people 
are  to  be  brought  to  repentance.  The  present  aim,  to  admonish  the 
infant  people  for  their  real  and  perpetual  welfare,  precludes  anything 
more  than  the  most  distant  allusion  to  the  more  comprehensive  pur- 
pose for  which  the  peculiar  people  were  called  into  existence,  namely, 
that  all  the  families  of  the  earth  might  be  blessed  in  the  seed  of 
Abraham.  34.  The  land  enjoy  its  sabbaths.  "What  a  touching  appeal 
there  is  in  this  to  the  infant  people  in  their  first  love !  It  pictures  to 
them  a  people  become  so  besotted  with  worldliness  and  idolatry  as  to 
neglect  the  sabbatical  and  jubilee  years,  if  not  the  weekly  sabbaths. 
The  long  years  of  desolation,  during  the  exile  of  the  people,  are  to 
compensate  for  this  neglect.  The  statement  is  repeated  to  enhance 
its  affecting  impression.  35.  The  prophetic  event  is  a  third  time 
repeated,  with  the  reason  for  it  expressly  annexed.  36.  From  the 
land  he  passes  to  the  people,  who  should  be  far  away  from  it.  A  faint- 
ness,'^ (Deut.  xxviii.  65).  This  is  an  exact  description  of  the  mental 
state  of  the  Jews  in  the  cajjtivity,  and  in  their  dispersion  after  the 
Christian  era.  Tlie  sound  of  a  falling  leaf  the  feeblest  rustle  that 
strikes  the  ear,  breeds  alarm  and  prompts  to  flight.     The  startled  fancy 


308  AN  ADMONITION. 

shall  chase  them  ;  and  they  shall  take  flight  as  from  the  sword, 
and  they  shall  fall  when  none  chaseth.  37.  And  they  shall 
stumble  one  upon  another  as  before  a  sword  when  no  one 
chaseth,  and  there  will  be  to  you  no  standing  before  your 
enemies.  38.  And  ye  shall  perish  among  the  nations,  and  the 
land  of  your  enemies  will  eat  you  up.  39.  And  they  that 
remain  of  you  shall  pine  away  in  their  iniquity  in  the  lands  of 
your  enemies ;  and  also  in  the  iniquities  of  their  fathers,  with 
them  shall  they  pine  away.  40.  And  they  shall  confess  their 
iniquity  and  the  iniquity  of  their  fathers  in  their  transgression 
which  they  have  committed  against  me,  and  also  that  they 
have  walked  against  me.  41.  When  I  also  walk  against  them, 
and  have  brought  them  into  the  land  of  tlieir  -enemies,  if  then 
their  uncircumcised  heart  be  bowed  down,  and  then  tliey  enjoy 

conjures  up  a  sword,  and  they  fall  down  as  slain  when  no  man  pursues. 
37.  They  stumble  one  upon  another;  they  are  far  from  standing 
before  the  enemy.  38.  They  shall  perish  in  great  numbers,  because 
of  the  oppression  and  persecution  which  the  nations  among  whom  they 
dwell  in  the  height  of  their  panic  or  the  intensity  of  their  hate 
will  practise  upon  them.  The  land  of  your  enemies,  as  a  ravenous 
beast,  will  eat  you  up.  39.  SI lall  pine  away  in  their  iniquity.  Their 
iniquity  and  the  iniquity  of  their  fathers,  their  iniquity  as  individuals 
and  as  a  nation ;  will  be  the  source  of  their  decline.  40.  The  main 
end  of  all  their  chastisements  is  now  brought  out.  They  shall  confess. 
A  case  is  here  put :  if  they  confess.  The  whole  of  the  heart-rending 
description  already  given  is,  indeed,  put  before  the  people  as  one  long 
supposition  or  possibility,  for  the  purpose  of  making  an  indelible  im- 
pression upon  their  hearts.  And  the  iniquity  of  their  fathers.  They 
are  a  whole  of  manifold  growth  and  continuity.  Their  iniquity  has 
been  of  long  standing  and  wide  consequence.  They  are  reaping  the 
fruits  of  a  heritage  of  crime.  In  their  transgression  is  the  fruit  not 
only  of  their  own  evil  heart,  but  of  the  inherited  disaffection  of  their 
fathers.  41.  When  I  also  walk  ayainst,  meet  their  aggravated  sin 
with  sevenfold  retribution  in  five  successive  staii^es.      This  remarkable 


LEVITICUS  XXVI.  41,  42.  309 

their  iniquity,  42.  Tlien  will  I  remember  my  covenant  with 
Jacob,  and  also  my  covenant  with  Isaac,  and  also  my  cove- 
nant with  Abraham  will  I  remember ;  and  the  land  I  will 


warning  is  not  constructed  upon  the  principle  of  an  exact  and  literal 
adaptation  of  the  outline  to  the  reahty.  Yet  the  history  of  Israel 
admits  of  a  fivefold  division.  The  times  of  the  judges  down  to  Eli, 
the  intervals  from  Samuel  to  Rehoboam,  from  Jeroboam  to  the  cap- 
tivity of  the  ten  tribes,  from  Hezekiah  to  the  seventy  years  of  captivity, 
from  the  return  to  the  destruction  of  the  temple,  and  the  disper- 
sion that  continues  to  the  present  day,  are  sufficiently  marked.  To 
note  one  mark  of  these  periods,  "  terror "  grew  to  the  time  of  Eli, 
"  the  pride  of  their  strength  "  was  broken  in  the  time  of  Eehoboam, 
"  the  wild  beast "  figures  again  in  the  desolation  of  the  land  on  the 
exile  of  the  ten  tribes  (2  King  xvii.  25),  the  "sword"  becomes  very 
prominent  in  the  time  of  Josiah  and  his  three  sons,  and  the  eating  of 
human  flesh  in  the  famine  of  a  siege,  the  desolated  sanctuary,  the 
literal  ceasing  to  smell  the  sweet  odors,  and  the  scattering  among  the 
heathen,  stand  out  very  conspicuous  in  the  conquest  of  Titus  and  its 
consequences.  An  elaborate  essay  on  this  whole  passage  would  tend 
very  much  to  illustrate  the  structure  of  prophetic  composition  and  the 
mode  of  its  interpretation.  If  then  their  uncircumcised  heart  he 
hoioed  down.  This  refers  to  the  "pride  of  power"  which  is  the  lead- 
ing characteristic  of  a  fallen  spirit.  And  then  they  enjoy  their  iniquity. 
To  enjoy  is  here  to  feel  that  they  are  reaping  the  bitter  fruit  of  their 
evil  doings.  This  is  a  very  bold,  but  still  perfectly  intelligible,  figure. 
42.  Then  will  I  remember  my  covenant.  The  threefold  establishment 
of  the  covenant  is  here  made  prominent,  and  is  significant  of  its  perpe- 
tuity. It  is  very  remarkable  that  in  the  fivefold  hypothesis  of  rebellion 
against  God  there  is  not  a  hint  of  the  final  rejection  of  his  people. 
In  the  covenant  are  found  the  momentous  words,  "In  thee,  in  thy 
seed,  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed  (Gen.  xii.  3 ;  xviii. 
18;  xxii.  18;  xxvi.  4;  xxviii.  14).  The  covenant  was  an  immutable 
purpose  of  God,  which  is  to  this  day  in  the  process  of  being  fulfilled. 
And  the  land.  The  land  is  to  have  its  sabbaths.  A  remnant  of  the 
captives  were  brought  back  to  it  after  the  seventy  years  of  exile 


310  AN  ADMONITION. 

remember.  43.  And  the  land  shall  be  left  of  them  and  enjoy 
its  sabbaths,  when  it  is  desolate  without  them,  and  they  enjoy 
their  hiiquity,  because,  even  because  they  despised  my  judg- 
ments and  their  soul  abhorred  ray  statutes.  44.  And  yet  for 
all  this,  when  they  be  in  the  land  of  their  enemies  I  will  not 
despise  them  nor  abhor  them  to  consume  them,  to  break  my 
covenant  with  them ;  for  I  am  the  Lord  their  God.  45.  And 
I  will  remember  for  them  the  covenant  of  the  former  men, 
whom  I  brought  out  of  the  land  of  Mizraim  in  the  siglit  of 

(Jer.  XXV.  11 ;  xxix.  10  ;  Dan.  ix.  2  ;  Ezra  i.  1).  As  there  are  seven 
sabbath-years  and  one  jubilee  in  every  fifty  years,  seventy  years  of 
rest  give  a  period  of  five  hundred  or  four  hundred  and  thirty  years 
during  which  these  years  of  rest  were  neglected.  The  interval  from 
the  crossing  of  the  Jordan,  about  1451,  to  the  captivity  of  Judah  was 
about  eight  hundred  and  forty-five  years.  Hence  it  appears  that  these 
sabbaths  were  neglected  more  than  half  the  time  from  the  conquest  to 
the  captivity.  After  the  exile  of  seventy  years  the  land  of  Judah, 
which  had  not  been  colonized  like  that  of  the  ten  tribes,  was  reoccupied 
by  the  returning  remnant  of  the  people.  43.  The  desolation  is  once 
more  sadly  attributed  to  the  iniquity  of  which  they  were  reaping  the 
fruit.  44.  And  yet  for  all  this.  This  is  the  counterpart  of  the  oft- 
repeated  "  on  this."  In  the  land  of  their  enemies  they  shall  not  be 
forgotten.  The  time  of  the  judges  and  the  period  of  the  captivity 
afford  the  historical  confirmation  of  this  promise.  To  consume  them 
utterly  would  be  to  break  the  covenant  of  the  Lord,  which  cannot  be 
done,  because  it  is  the  immutable  counsel  of  God,  and  involves  in  it  the 
eternal  purpose  of  salvation  for  man.  For.  The  reasons  now  assigned 
are  embraced  in  that  word  and  seal  of  the  covenant,  "  I  am  the  Lord 
their  God."  At  the  end  of  this  harassing  prognostication  it  recurs  once 
more.  45.  And  I  will  remember.  God's  memory  never  fails.  The 
covenant  of  the  former  men.  The  covenant  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob  was  fulfilled  to  their  descendants  who  were  brought  out  of 
Egypt,  and  solemnly  renewed  with  them  at  Mount  Sinai.  This  great 
event  was  transacted  in  the  sight  of  all  surrounding  nations.  To  he 
their  God.    This  is  the  import  of  the  covenant.     I  am  the  Lord.     Tliis 


LEVITICUS  XXVI.  46.  311 

the  nations  to  be  their  God :  I  am  the  Lord.  40.  Tliese  are 
the  statutes  and  the  judgments  and  the  laws  which  the  Lord 
made  between  himself  and  the  sons  of  Israel  in  Mount  Sinai 
by  the  hand  of  Moses.  ^ 

is  its  warrant.  46.  These  are  the  statutes.  We  have  here  the  express 
testimony  of  INIoses  that  this  communication  was  made  to  him  on 
Mount  Sinai,  and  therefore  antecedent  to  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle. 
This  section  is  of  so  much  importance  as  to  warrant  the  appending  of 
a  closing  formula.  But  the  comprehensiveness  of  the  terms  •'  statutes 
and  judgments  and  laws  "  appears  to  cover  a  considerable  portion  of 
Exodus  as  well  Leviticus.  The  first  seven  chapters  and  the  present 
section  of  Leviticus  come  expressly  under  the  head  of  the  legislation 
commencing  with  chap.  xx.  of  Exodus,  and  communicated  from  Mount 
Sinai.  And  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  the  sections  from  chap.  xvii.  to 
the  end  of  Leviticus  being  assigned  to  the  same  period.  Moses  having 
received  these  communications  interposes  the  history  of  the  making 
and  erection  of  the  tabernacle  and  of  the  consecration  of  the  priests 
among  these  divine  communications  in  the  manner  best  fitted  for  their 
illustration.  We  shall  find  him  pursuing  the  same  course  in  the  Book 
of  Numbers.  Chapters  xi.-xvi.  of  Leviticus  appear  to  have  been 
communicated  after  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle. 

NOTES. 

1.  Figured  stone,  r"^3b^  px ,  stone  of  image,  XiOov  o-kottov. 

13.  Bars,  nbb ,  t6v  Seafiov ;  r.  move,  shake. 

30.  Sun-stocks,  D"'|i53n  ,  the  fire  idols,  to.  ^vXwa  -^^LpoTroLrjTa  ;  r.  be  hot. 
Blocks,  C^V'-?!  trunks,  logs,  tiSwAa ;  r.  roll.  This  is  a  frequent  word 
in  Ezekiel,  who  uses  it  thirty-eight  times.  It  occurs  also  twice  in 
the  Pentateuch,  and  seven  times  elsewhere. 

xxvn.  vows. 

The  vow  is  the  promise  to  dedicate  something  to  the  Lord.  It  is 
therefore  an  act  of  free-will.  But  when  once  the  vow  has  been  made 
it  is,  in  ordinary  circumstances,  binding  (Num.  xxx).  Hence  the  vow 
is  treated  after  matters  of  intrinsic   obligation   have   been   settled. 


312  vows. 

XXVII.  1.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  2.  Speak 
unto  the  sons  of  Israel  and  say  unto  them,  When  a  man  setteth 
apart  a  vow,  at  thy  valuation  shall  the  souls  be  to  the  Lord. 
3.  And  thy  valuation  shall  be  of  the  male  from  twenty  years 
old  to  sixty  years  old,  even  thy  valuation  shall  be  fifty  shekels 
of  silver,  by  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary.  4.  And  if  it  be  a 
female,  then  thy  valuation  shall  be  thirty  shekels.  5.  And  if 
it  be  from  five  years  old  to  twenty  years  old,  then  thy  valua- 

Reference  has  already  been  made  incidentally  to  the  vow  in  Lev.  vii. 
16  and  xxii.  18.  In  this  sui^plementary  chapter  the  valuation  of 
everything  that  may  be  made  the  object  of  a  vow  is  determined :  of 
persons  (2-8)  ;  of  cattle  (9-13)  ;  of  houses  (14,  15)  ;  of  land  (16-25). 
All  these  may  be  redeemed  except  clean  animals  that  are  fit  for  sacri- 
fice. The  firstling  cannot  be  vowed,  because  it  is  the  Lord's  (26,  27). 
That  which  is  devoted  cannot  be  sold  or  redeemed,  but  must  be  put  to 
death  (28,  29).  The  tithe  is  regulated  in  30-38.  The  closing 
formula  is  in  34.  This  communication  is  made  to  Moses  in  Mount 
Sinai  for  the  sons  of  Israel. 

1-8.  Valuation  of  persons.  2.  W/ien  a  man  setteth  apart  -  a  vow, 
or,  as  some  render  it,  maketh  a  special  vow.  The  verb  no  doubt 
means  to  distinguish  as  wonderful ;  but  this  is  a  distinction  of  all 
vowing.  At  thy  valuation.  At  the  valuation  of  Moses  as  the  law- 
giver. This  only  is  consistent  with  the  context  which  fixes  the  value. 
The  communication  is  also  addressed  primarily  to  Moses.  Shall  the 
souls  be  to  the  Lord.  In  vows  regarding  persons  the  sum  at  which 
the  person  was  valued  was  to  be  given  to  the  Lord.  The  Levites,  in- 
cluding the  priests,  were  already  consecrated  to  the  service  of  God. 
It  was  not  therefore  necessary  or  desirable  that  persons  vowed  should 
be  actually  taken  into  his  service  as  attendants  at  the  tabernacle. 
Hence  the  arrangement  of  a  rate  which  was  to  be  payable  for  such 
persons.  3,  4.  From  twenty  years  old  to  sixty.  This  was  the  period 
of  active  service.  Fifty  shekels  of  silver.  The  slave  was  valued  at 
thirty  shekels  (Ex.  xxi.  32).  By  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary.  See  on 
Ex.  XXX.  10;  Lev.  v.  15.  The  female  was  valued  at  thirty  shekels. 
5,  6    From  five  years  old  to  twenty.     This  was  the  period  of  youth  or 


LEVITICUS  XX\TI.  5-19.  313 

tion  shall  be  for  the  male  twenty  shekels  and  for  the  female 
ten  shekels.  6.  And  if  it  be  from  a  month  old  unto  five  years 
old,  then  shall  thy  valuation  be  of  the  male  five  shekels  of  sil- 
ver, and  for  the  female  thy  valuation  shall  be  three  shekels  of 
silver.  7.  And  if  it  be  from  sixty  years  old  and  upwards,  if  a 
male,  then  shall  thy  valuation  be  fifteen  shekels  and  for  the 
female  ten  shekels.  8.  And  if  he  fail  of  thy  valuation,  then 
he  shall  present  himself  before  the  priest,  and  the  priest  shall 
value  him ;  according  to  that  which  the  hand  of  the  vower 
reacheth  shall  the  priest  value  him.  § 

9.  And  if  it  be  a  beast  of  which  they  make  an  offering  unto 
the  Lord,  all  that  he  giveth  of  such  unto  the  Lord  shall  be 
holy.  10.  He  shall  not  alter  it  nor  change  it,  good  for  bad,  or 
bad  for  good ;  and  if  he  do  change  beast  for  beast,  both  it  and 

minority.  Twenty  shekels  are  here  allowed  for  the  male  and  ten  for 
the  female.  From  a  month  old  to  jive  years.  This  is  the  period  of 
infancy.  The  valuation  is  five  shekels  for  the  male  and  three  for  the 
female,  Tliis  accords  with  the  redemption  price  for  a  firstborn 
son  .(Num.  xviii.  16).  7.  From  sixty  years  old  and  upwards.  This 
is  the  time  of  old  age.  The  valuation  is  fifteen  shekels  for  the  male 
and  ten  for  the  female.  Females  being  of  weaker  frame  are  valued  at 
a  lower  rate.  The  valuation  is  otherwise  founded  on  age,  or  the 
capacity  for  service  determined  by  age.  8.  And  if  he  fail  of  thy 
valuation,  if  he  be  so  poor  as  to  be  unable  to  pay  the  fixed  assess- 
ment, the  priest  is  vested  with  authority  to  abate  it  according  to  his 
means. 

9-13.  Valuation  of  cattle.  9.  A  beast  of  which  they  make  an  offer- 
ing unto  the  Lord,  that  is,  of  the  herd  or  of  the  fiock,  is  holy,  and 
must  be  given  to  the  Lord  without  exchange  or  redemption.  10.  He  shall 
not  alter  it  nor  exchange  it.  The  former  word  may  refer  to  the  put- 
ting of  one  kind  of  beast  in  place  of  another,  the  latter  to  the  substi- 
tution of  a  beast  of  the  same  kind.  Good  for  had,  or  had  for  good. 
The  animal  vowed  is  holy,  and  is  not  to  be  exchanged  in  any  way  from 
any  motive.  If  the  exchange  be  made,  both  the  animal  vowed  and  its 
15 


314  vows. 

its  exchange  shall  be  holy.  11.  And  if  it  be  any  unclean  beast 
of  which  they  do  not  make  an  offering  unto  the  Lord,  then  he 
shall  present  the  beast  before  the  priest.  12.  And  the  priest 
shall  value  it  between  good  and  bad  ;  at  the  valuation  of  the 
priest  it  shall  be.  13.  And  if  he  do  redeem  it,  he  shall  add  a 
fifth  of  it  to  thy  valuation. 

14.  And  if  a  man  consecrate  his  house  to  be  holy  unto  the 
Lord,  then  the  priest  shall  value  it  between  good  and  bad ;  as 
the  priest  valueth,  so  shall  it  stand.  15.  And  if  the  consecrator 
redeem  his  house,  he  shall  add  a  fifth  of  the  money  of  thy 
valuation  unto  it,  and  it  shall  be  his. 

16.  And  if  of  the  field  of  his  possession  a  man  consecrate 
any  part  unto  the  Lord,  then  thy  valuation  shall  be  according 
to  its  seed  ;   the  seed  of  a  homer  of  barley  being  valued  at 

exchange  will  be  holy.  This  precludes  any  selfish  motive.  11,  12. 
And  if  it  he  an  unclean  beast,  that  is,  not  allowed  for  sacrifice,  and  so 
not  of  the  flock  or  the  herd.  This  is  to  be  presented  before  the  priest, 
who  shall  value  it  "  between  good  and  bad,"  that  is,  at  an  average 
rate,  and  his  valuation  is  to  stand.  13.  If  the  vower  redeem  it,  he 
must  add  a  fifth  to  this  valuation.  This  also  precludes  any  unworthy 
motive. 

14,  15.  Valuation  of  a  house.  Here  again  the  priest  shall  fix  the 
value.  If  the  consecrator  choose  to  redeem  it,  he  shall  add  a  fifth 
part  to  the  valuation. 

16-25.  Valuation  of  land.  16-21.  First,  part  of  the  field  of  his 
patrimony,  which  in  ordinary  circumstances  he  cannot  alienate  beyond 
the  year  of  jubilee.  16.  This  the  priest  shall  value  according  to  its 
seed.  A  homer  of  barley.  The  homer,  equal  to  ten  ephahs  or  one 
hundred  omers,  contains  about  five  and  a  half  bushels  of  grain.  At 
four  or  five  bushels  to  the  acre,  this  would  sow  more  than  an  acre, 
and  at  a  lower  rate  it  would  sow  two  acres.  Fifty  shekels  at  2s. 
Zd.  a  shekel  would  amount  to  £6  45.  M.  Fifty  shekels  for  fifty 
years,  or  a  shekel  a  year,  is  the  value  fixed  for  a  portion  of  ground 
containing  between  one  and  a  half  and  two  statute  acres.      This 


LEVITICUS  :SX.YJl.  17-23.  315 

fifty  shekels  of  silver.  17.  If  lie  consecrate  his  field  from  the 
year  of  jubilee  at  tliy  valuation  it  shall  stand.  18.  And  if  he 
consecrate  his  field  after  the  jubilee,  then  the  priest  shall 
reckon  unto  him  the  money  according  to  the  years  unto  the 
year  of  jubilee,  and  abatement  shall  be  made  from  thy  valua- 
tion. 19.  And  if  he  that  consecrates  it  do  redeem  the  field, 
then  he  shall  add  a  fifth  of  the  money  of  thy  valuation,  and  it 
shall  stand  as  his.  20.  And  if  he  redeem  not  the  field  or  have 
sold  it  to  another  man,  it  shall  no  more  be  redeemed.  21.  And 
the  field  when  it  goeth  out  in  the  jubilee  shall  be  holy  unto 
the  Lord  ;  as  a  field  devoted,  the  priest  shall  have  possession 
of  it. 

22.  And  if  he  consecrate  unto  the  Lord  a  field  of  his  pur- 
chase, which  is  no  part  of  the  field  of  his  possession,  23.  Then 
the  priest  shall  reckon  to  him  the  worth  of  thy  valuation  unto 
the  year  of  jubilee ;  and  he  shall  give  thy  valuation  on  that 


was  of  course  a  moderate  valuation.  17,  18.  From  the  year  of  jubilee. 
The  price  being  fixed  for  the  period  from  jubilee  to  jubilee,  that  for 
the  period  from  the  time  of  vowing  to  the  next  jubilee  is  to  be 
ascertained  by  simple  proportion,  "according  to  the  years  unto  the 
year  of  jubilee."  Abatement  shall  be  made  of  the  fixed  valuation 
according  to  the  number  of  years  to  the  next  jubilee.  19.  If  he 
redeem  the  field  he  shall  add  a  fifth  as  usual,  and  it  shall  be  his. 
20.  But  if  he  do  not  redeem  it,  or  if  he  sell  it  to  another,  and  therefore 
of  course  do  not  redeem  it,  it  shall  never  be  redeemed.  21.  At  the 
jubilee  when  it  goes  out  it  shall  be  holy  unto  the  Lord,  as  a  field 
devoted.     It  becomes  the  possession  of  the  priest. 

22-25.  Secondly,  a  purchased  field.  This  is  no  part  of  his  inheri- 
tance, and  he  has  only  the  use  of  it  till  the  jubilee.  23.  The  amount 
of  the  valuation  is  to  be  given  on  that  day  on  which  the  vow  is  made. 
Plainly  in  this  case  the  obligation  could  not  be  discharged  by  an 
annual  payment,  because  the  field  might  pass  out  of  his  hands  at  any 
time.     No  fifth  part  is  here  mentioned,  because  the  use  only  of  the 


316  Yovrs. 

day  as  a  liolj  thing  unto  the  Lord.  24.  In  the  year  of  jubilee 
the  field  shall  return  to  him  of  whom  he  bought  it,  to  whom 
the  possession  of  the  field  belougeth.  25.  And  all  thy  valua- 
tions shall  be  by  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary ;  twenty  gerahs 
shall  be  the  shekel. 

26.  Only  the  firstling  of  a  beast  which  belongeth  to  the 
LoED,  no  man  shall  consecrate  it;  whether  ox  or  sheep,  it  is 
the  Lord's.  27.  And  if  the  beast  be  unclean,  then  he  shall 
release  it  at  thy  valuation  and  add  a  fifth  to  it ;  and  if  not 
redeemed  it  shall  be  sold  at  thy  valuation. 

28.  Only  no  devoted  thing  that  a  man  devoteth  unto  the 
Lord  of  all  that  he  hath,  of  man  or  of  beast  or  of  the  field  of 
his  possession  shall  be  sold  or  redeemed ;  every  devoted  thing 

land  tiU  the  jubilee  was  possessed  by  the  vower.  24.  The  field  in 
this  case,  according  to  xxv.  28,  returns  to  him  from  whom  it  was 
bought.  2.5.  The  value  of  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary  is  here  defined- 
See  on  vs.  3. 

26,  27.  The  firstling  cannot  be  vowed.  It  belongs  to  the  Lord 
already,  and  therefore  cannot  be  vowed  to  him  by  one  who  does  not 
possess  it.  It  may  be  released,  if  unclean,  by  paying  the  valuation 
with  a  fifth  added.     If  not,  it  is  to  be  sold  at  the  valuation. 

28,  29.  A  thing  devoted^  is  not  to  be  redeemed  or  sold.  The 
cherem  is  mentioned  for  the  first  time  in  this  chapter.  It  means  a 
person  accursed  or  cut  off  from  the  communion  of  God  or  his  people, 
or  from  the  number  of  the  living,  or  a  thing  accursed  and  so  cut 
off  from  all  common  use  and  given  over  to  destruction.  This  ban 
could  only  come  from  God  or  his  accredited  representative  and  agent ; 
and  could  only  fall  on  a  person  or  the  property  of  a  person  gudty  of 
incorrigible  rebellion  against  God,  as  an  idol  (Deut.  vii.  26),  a  city 
of  idolaters  (Deut-  xiii.  18 ;  Josh.  vi.  17),  an  ungodly  people  (1  Sam. 
XV.  3,  21),  sinners  and  transgressors  in  Israel  (Isa.  xliii.  28),  a 
heathen  rebel  against  God  and  his  people  (1  Kings  xx.  42 ;  Isa. 
xxxiv.  5).  That  which  was  thus  solemnly  devoted  to  destruction 
was  not  to  be  sold  or  redeemed.     If  a  living  creature,  it  was  to  be 


LEVITICUS  XXVn.  28-33.  317 

is  most  holy  unto  the  Lord.  29.  No  devoted  thing,  which  is 
devoted  out  of  man,  shall  be  redeemed;  it  shall  be  put  to 
death. 

30.  And  all  the  tithe  of  the  land,  of  the  seed  of  the  land  or 
of  the  fruit  of  the  tree,  is  the  Lord's  :  it  is  holy  unto  the  Lord. 
31.  And  if  a  man  do  redeem  his  tithe,  he  shall  add  a  fifth  of  it 
to  it.  32.  And  all  the  tithe  of  the  herd  and  of  the  flock,  of  all 
that  passeth  under  the  rod  the  tenth  shall  be  holy  unto  the  Lord. 
33.  He  shall  not  search  between  good  and  bad  nor  change  it ; 
and  if  he  do  change  it,  it  and  its  exchange  shall  be  holy ;  it 


put  to  death  as  a  thing  doomed.  If  inanimate,  it  was  irrevocably 
surrendered  to  the  Lord  to  be  disposed  of  at  his  will.  A  ban  is 
therefore  to  be  carefully  distinguished  from  a  vow.  The  subject  of 
the  vow  was  consecrated  to  the  Lord  at  the  will  of  the  vower  as  an 
acceptable  offering,  and  if  a  sacrifice,  was  either  a  peace-offering  or 
a  burnt-sacrifice  of  the  herd  or  of  the  flock.  The  subject  of  the  ban 
was  devoted  to  destruction  only  at  the  behest  of  God  as  an  accursed 
thing,  by  no  means  to  be  offered  as  a  sacrifice,  but  to  be  put  to  death 
as  under  the  sentence  of  the  ban.  Which  is  devoted  out  of  man,  which 
belongs  to  the  race  of  man,  and  is  devoted  on  account  of  incorrigible 
iniquity.  Such  devoted  men  are  to  be  put  to  death  as  malefactors  in 
the  most  awful  sense,  that  is,  as  impenitent  rebels  against  God. 
There  is  not  the  slightest  hint  of  either  parents  or  masters  being  at 
liberty  to  ban  either  their  children  or  serfs,  in  this  or  in  any  other 
passage  of  scripture  referring  to  the  ban.  The  case  of  Jephthah  is  not 
that  of  a  ban,  but  a  vow,  and  refers  to  offering,  and  not  to  extermination. 
The  daughter  of  Jephthah  had  done  nothing  to  bring  her  under  the 
ban,  and  human  sacrifices  were  forbidden  under  the  Mosaic  code. 

30-34.  The  tithe.  The  tithe  of  the  fruits  of  the  ground  belongs  to 
the  Lord.  30.  If  redeemed,  commuted  for  a  money  payment,  a  fifth 
was  to  be  added  to  it.  32.  The  tithe  of  cattle  belongs  also  to  the 
Lord.  33.  He  shall  not  search  between  good  and  bad.  The  tenth 
animal  that  passes  under  the  rod  is  marked  with  ruddle  as  the  tithe, 
and  is  not  to  be  changed  ;  or  if  changed,  both  it  and  its  exchange 


818  vows. 

shall  not  be  redeemed.  34.  These  are  the  commandments 
which  the  Lord  commanded  Moses  for  the  sons  of  Israel  in 

Mount  Sinai. 

belong  to  the  Lord.  The  tithe  of  animals  is  not  be  redeemed. 
34.  From  the  last  verse  it  appears  that  this  communication  also  was 
made  from  Mount  Sinai  before  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle.  It  is 
obvious  therefore  that  the  arrangement  of  these  documents  is  not 
wholly  chronological,  but  in  the  first  place  logical.  The  first  sixteen 
chapters  describe  the  consecration  of  the  people  to  the  Lord  by  the 
ritual  of  propitiation,  by  the  consecration  of  the  priests,  by  the  ritual 
of  purification,  and  by  the  day  of  atonement,  in  which  all  these  are 
combined  and  consummated.  The  next  eleven  chapters  portray  the 
preparation  of  the  people  for  entering  into  the  promised  land.  They 
treat  of  the  social  life  of  the  people  of  God,  as  a  state,  as  a  church, 
and  as  a  state  and  church  coinciding  one  with  the  other.  There  is 
therefore  a  perfectly  logical  arrangement  running  through  the  whole. 
This  whole  book  exhibits  the  people  and  their  ordinances,  civil  and 
religious,  as  a  type  of  all  subsequent  stages  of  the  church  as  constituted 
on  earth.  It  is  the  lock  of  which  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  the 
easy  key.  It  is  the  document  which  affords  a  vocabulary  for  the 
philosophy  of  redemption. 

NOTES. 

2.  Setteth  apart,  N'^bs^ ,  ^.v^rai.  The  verb  means  to  do  something 
extraordinary.     A  vow  is  of  this  nature. 

28.  A  thing  devoted,  ti"]ii,  avdOefxa.  The  root  signifies  to  cut  off, 
and  hence  in  this  case  to  destroy.  The  word  "  harem "  comes  from 
this  root. 


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3 


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"  It  is  a  rich  treasure  for  the  student  of  the  original.  As  a  commentator.  Prof. 
Stuarc  was  especially  arduous  and  faithful  in  following  up  the  thought,  and  dis- 
playing the  connection  of  a  passage,  and  his  work  as  a  scholar  will  hear  comparisoE 
with  any  that  have  since  appeared  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic." — American 
Preshi/terian. 

"  This  Commentary  is  classical,  both  as  to  its  literary  and  its  theological  merits. 
The  edition  before  us  is  very  skilfully  edited  by  Prof.  Robbins,  and  gives  in  full 
Dr.  Stuart's  text,  with  additions  bringing  it  down  to  the  present  day." — Epis- 
copal Recorder. 

"  We  have  always  regarded  this  excellent  Commentary  as  the  happiest  effort  of 
the  late  Andover  Professor.  It  seems  to  us  well-nigh'  to  exhaust  the  subjects 
which  the  author  comi)rehendcd  in  his  plan."  —  Boston  Recorder. 

"  Professor  Stuart  has  held  a  large  place  in  the  eye  of  the  church,  as  a  man 
well  furnished  with  all  the  learning  required  in  a  sciiptural  commentator;  and 
we  recognize  his  merit,  while  we  do  not  always  rely  on  the  theology  of  his  com- 
ments."—  Presbijterian. 

Commentary  on  Ecelesiastes.  By  Prof.  Moses  Stuart.  Second 
Edition.  Edited  and  Revised  by  R.  D.  C.  Robbixs,  Professor  in 
Middlebury  College.     12mo.     pp.  34G.  $1.50 

"A  most  thorough,  plain,  careful,  faithful  Commentary.  It  consists  of  a  pre- 
liminary dissertation  on  the  nature,  design,  method,  and  history  of  the  book ;  a 
translation  having  the  commentary  after  each  verse,  and  a  brief  final  summary  of 
most  of  tiie  chapters.  The  commentary  is  worked  out  in  a  most  thorough  man- 
ner, both  its  philosophy  and  exegesis."  —  Independent. 

"  The  first  characteristic  of  Professor  Stuart  as  a  commentator  is  the  exhaustive 
thoronuhness  of  his  labors.  His  exegesis  is  in  general  skilful  and  felicitous, 
especially  in  bringing  out  the  meaning  of  the  obscure  passages,  and  adding  new 
and  delicate  shades  of  thought  to  the  more  obvious  and  superficial  sense." — North 
American  Review. 

"  This  Commentary  casts  much  light  on  this  difficult  portion  of  God's  -word," — 
Boston  Rerieiv. 

"  The  Commentary  on  Ecelesiastes  was  among  the  latest  and  ripest  of  its  author's 
works."  —  Christian  Review. 

"  It  hears  the  marks  of  his  vigorous  and  intuitive  mind  on  every  page." — Boston 
2  ranscript. 

"  One  of  the  ripest  and  most  interesting  of  Dr.  Stuart's  works." — TheLutheran, 

Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Proverbs.  By  Prof.  Moses  Stuart. 
12mo.     pp.432.  $1.75 

"  This  is  the  last  work  from  the  pen  of  Prof.  Stuart.  Both  this  Commentary 
and  the  one  preceding  it  on  Ecelesiastes,  exhibit  a  mellowness  of  spirit  which  savoi'S 
of  the  good  man  ripening  i'or  heaven ;  and  the  style  is  more  condensed,  and,  in  that 
respect  more  agreeable,  than  in  some  of  the  works  which  were  written  in  the  un- 
abated ireshness  and  exuberant  vigor  of  his  mind.  In  learning  and  critical  acumen 
they  are  equal  to  his  former  works.  No  English  reader,  we  venture  to  say,  can 
elsewhere  lind  so  complete  a  philological  exposition  of  these  two  important  liooka 
of  the  Old  Testament." — Bibliotheca  Sarm. 
Ww. 


Books  PuUished  by  W.  F.  Draper. 

fVJiafeli/.     Wvithujs  of  Ai'chhishop  JJhnfeli/.     Publishcvl  under 

the  sanction  of  the  author,  from  the  latest  revised  editions :  viz. 
Essays  on  some  of  the  Difiaculties  in  the  Writings  of  St,  Paul. 

12mo.     pji.  3"J7.     Cloth  extra,  gilt  tops.  $1.50 

"  Dr.  Whatcly's  writings  are  characterized  by  sound  thought  and  solid  judgnieiit. 
Clear  and  solid  sense  is  his  peculiar  characteristic.  He  is  often  ingenious,  generally 
candid,  almost  always  plain  and  transparent.  He  sometimes  fails  in  acutencss,  is 
is  seen  in  the  third  Essay  of  the  present  volume,  where,  as  we  think,  he  fails  to 
apjuehend  the  exact  idea  of  '  election ' ;  still,  he  is  more  sharp-sighted  than  the 
majority  of  writers  on  theological  topics. 

"  Wc  regard  the  present  volume  as,  on  the  whole,  the  abl-'St  of  Ids  thdological 
works.  It  deserves  the  faithful  study  of  every  clergyman.  Dr.  Whately  is  one  of 
those  authors  who  can  be  as  prolitably  read  by  tiiose  who  do  not  agree  with  him 
as  by  those  who  do.  The  religious  opinions  of  a  writer  who  earned  so  eminent  a 
name  in  the  department  of  loizic  and  rhetoric,  and  who  had  so  great  skill  in  the 
practical  affairs  rehiting  to  the  state  as  well  as  the  church,  cannot  be  without 
peculiar  interest  to  the  theologian."  —  Bibliothfca  Sacra. 

"  An  excellent  work."  —  New  York  Emmidist. 

"  One  of  those  volumes  which  make  sound'  l-oarning  and  thorough  biblical  scholar- 
ship so  honorable  in  the  sight  of  all  men.  A  man  of  exact  and  extensive  learning, 
a  patient  and  devoted  student  of  the  Scriptures,  clear  as  crystal  in  his  thought, 
and  as  clear  in  his  language  and  metliods  of  expressing  it,  a  lover  of  truth,  and 
not  afraid  to  utter  it." —  (Jnioersalist  Quarter/;/. 

"  The  Archbishop's  writings  are  a  part  of  tlie  sterling  theological  letters  of  the 
age,  and  ought  to  be  possessed  by  all  the  studious  and  thoughtful." — Journal  and 
Mcssenqer. 

"  This  book  had  passed  through  at  least  eight  editions  in  England  before  its 
puWication  in  this  country.  Dr.  Whately  is  always  entitled  to  a  hearing.  Never 
profound,  he  is  always  clear  ;  never  very  original,  he  is  always  instructive;  never 
disgustingly  dogmatic,  he  always  seems  to  feel  a  serene  assurance  that  he  has 
exhausted  the  whole  subject,  and  that  his  verdict  is  final ;  always  jiositive  and 
didactic,  he  is  yet  never  extreme,  but  always  takes  the  middle  and  moderate  view." 
—  Watchiiaa  and  liejiector. 

Essays  on  some  of  the  Peculiarities  of  the  Christian  Religion. 
and  Historic  Doubts  concerning  Napoleon.  12mo.  pp.  204 
and  48.      Bound  in  1  vol.     Cloth  extra,  gilt  tops.  $1.50 

Historic  Doubts  concerning  Napoleon.    12mo.      pp.48. 

Paper  covers,  25  cents  ;  cloth.  50  certs. 
Ahont  the  year  1821  Whately  pnblishcd  this  Essay  anonymously.  It  was 
icsimied  as  an  answer  to  Ilumc's'objections  to  the  credibility  of  the  Oln-istian  mir- 
acles. Following  Hume's  method,  Whately  gravely  argued  the  improbability  of 
the  existence  of  the  first  Napoleon,  and  demonstrated  tiuit,  on  Hume's  prin';ipks, 
the  testiuionv  in  r<alation  thereto  could  not  i)e  credited.  In  the  second  edition  of 
this  Essav,  the  author  humorously  assumed  the  fact  of  the  death  of  Napoleon, 
which  had  then  just  occurred,  as  a"confiimation  of  his  theory,  asserting  that  "  the 
newspapers,"  finding  that  his  little  tract  had  called  attention  to  their  'phantom,' 
had  disposed  of  the'tract  by  killing  the  phantom. 

Woods.     WoiLh  of  Leonard  Woods,  D.D.,  late  Professor  in  An- 

dover  Theological  Seminary,  comprising  Lectures,  Letters,  Essays, 

and  Sermons.     5  vols.     8vo.  $12.00 

"  The  pnl]iit  here  finds  a  fountain  of  light  that  it  may  continue  to  refle<  t  with 

power  and  ellect  thruuuhout  the  world.     Dr.  Woods  had  no  sui>erior  in  scholarship, 

m  industry,  and  in  ability  to  impress  the  inquirer  after  truth."  —  lielicfiom  Union. 


Boohs  Published  by  W.  F.  Draper. 

Gardiner.  Bihiical  WorJiS  hy  Frederic  Gardiner,  D.T>.,  Pro- 
fessor in  the  JBerkeletf  Divinity  School  ;  viz. 

A.  Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels  in  Greek,  according  to  the  Text 
of  Tischendorf,  with  a  Collation  of  the  Textus  Receptus,  a»\d  of 
the  Texts  of  Griesbach,  Lachmann,  and  Tregelles.  8vo.         $2.50 

•'  The  notes  of  the  author  are  marked  by  scholarship  and  good  sense.  The 
student  will  (ind  it  a  convenient  manual  for  the  study  of  tl>c  Gospels,  hecanse  be 
gees  upon  one  and  the  same  page  the  readings  of  the  principal  editions  and  raanii 
scripts,  together  with  the  quotations  made  by  the  evangelists  from  the  Old  Testa 
ment."  —  Princefon  Rcvieiv. 

"  A  very  important  matter  in  the  preparation  of  a  Harmony  is,  of  course,  the 
choice  of  a  text.  The  one  chosen  by  Professor  Gardiner  is  that  of  Tischenciorfg 
eighth  edition  of  the  New  Testament.  This  text  was  chosen  because  'it  embodied 
the  latest  results  of  criticism,  having  had  the  advantage  throughout  of  the 
Codex  Sinaiticus  and  of  a  more  close  collation  of  the  Codex  Vaticanus.'  Trot". 
Gardiner  would,  indeed,  have  puolished  his  Harmony  mo*-e  than  a  year  ago,  but 
waited  till  opportunity  could  be  given  for  consulting  this  last  edition  of  Tischen- 
dorf. It  is  an  obvious  merit  in  this  Harmony,  that  the  student  can  see  at  a  glance 
whether  or  not  the  text  of  Tischendorf  agrees  or  conflicts  with  that  of  Griesbach, 
Lachmann,  and  Tregelles  in  places  where  there  is  a  ditierence  of  opiuiuu.  It  is 
another  excellence  of  the  work  that  the  Greek  text  is  so  accurate,  evincing  ihe  most 
scnipulous  care  and  thorough  scholarship  on  the  jiart  of  the  editor."  —  Bib.  Vetera. 

"  Dr.  Gardiner's  work  has  been  well  done,  and  he  has  given  us  a  Harmony  of 
great  A'alue." —  Qiiarterti/  Review  Evunrj.  Luth.  Church. 

"  By  this  scholarly  work  Dr.  Gardiner  has  rendered  all  diligent  students  of  the 
Gospel  narrative  an  invaluable  service.  In  a  single  volume,  ami  by  the  most  satis- 
factory arrangement  of  the  several  and  inspired  accounts  of  the  life  and  doings  of 
our  Lord,  the  book  furnishes  the  best  results  of  the  ablest  and  most  lahoiious 
investigation  of  all  known  sources  of  knowledge  regarding  the  original  sacred  text." 

—  Reformed  Church  Alonthltf. 

"It  is  a  superior  work  of  its  kind."  —  National  Baptist. 

"This  book,  the  result  of  great  research  and  utmost  painstaking,  is  well  worthy 
the  consideration  of  all  Bible  scholars."  —  Watchmun  and  Jiejitctor. 

A  Harmony  of  the  Pour  Gospels  in  English,  according  to  the 
Authorized  Version ;  corrected  by  the  best  Critical  Editions  of 
the  Original      8vo.    pp.  xliv  and  287.     Cloth.  $2.0C 

"The  Harmony  in  English,  the  title  of  which  is  given  above,  is  a  reproduction 
of  the  Harmony  in  Greek ;  no  other  changes  being  made  than  such  as  were  re- 
quired to  fit  the  work  for  tlie  use  of  the  English  reader  who  desires  to  learn  some 
of  the  improvements  which  modern  criticism  has  made  in  the  authorized  English 
text."  —  Bibiiothcca  ^iacra. 

"  We  gladly  commend  this  Harmony  to  every  intelligent  resder  of  the  Scripturt-.o 
The  need  ot  such  a  guide  is  felt  by  every  thoughtfulChurchman  at  least  once  a 
year  —  in  Holy  Week  —  when  he  desires  to  read  the  events  of  each  day  in  tha 
order  in  which  they  happened  so  many  years  ago.  We  do  not  think  that  our  lav- 
men  know  how  much  they  will  be  helped  to  the  understanding  of  the  Gospels  by  a 
simple  Harmony,  perhaps  reads  as  we  suggested  above,  in  connection  with  some 
standard  Life  of  our  Lord."  —  The  Churchman. 

Diatessaron.     The  Life  of  Our  Lord  in  the  "Words  of  the  Gospels. 

16mo.   pp.  256.  $1.00 

••  It  is  well  adapted  to  the  convenience  of  pastors,  to  the  needs  of  teachers  in  the 

Bible-class  and  ISabbath-school,  to  the  religious  instruction  of  families.     It  bids 

fair  to  introduce  improvements  into  the  style  of  teaching  the  Bible  to  the  young." 

—  Hihliolhecu  Sacra. 

"  This  little  volume  will  not  only  answer  as  a  Harmony  of  the  Gospels  for  the  use 
of  those  who  only  care  to  have  results,  but  it  will  be  an  excellent  book  to  read  ai 
family  prayers,  or  to  study  with  a  Bible-class."  —  Christian  Union. 
¥ 


Books  Puhlished  hy  TV.  F.  Draper. 

Winer.    A  Gy^ammnr  of  the  IfViom  of  the  'New  Tefitament . 

prepared  as  a  Solid  Basis  for  the  Interpretation  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament. By  Dk.  Georgk  Benedict  Winer,  Seventh  edition, 
enlarged  and  improved.  By  Dr.  Gottlieb  Lunemann,  Pro- 
fessor of  Theology  at  the  University  of  Gottingen.  Revised  and 
Authorized  Translation.     8vo.     pp.  744. 

Cloth,  $5.00;  sheep,  $6.00;  half  goat,  $6.75 

"After  his  death  a  seventh  edition  of  his  Grammar  was  published  in  1866,  under 
the  editorial  care  of  Dr.  Liinemann.  This  editor  incorporated  into  this  edition 
the  numerous  manuscri])t  notes  which  Winer  had  prepared  for  it.  '  V/ithout  alter- 
ing the  general  distriliution  of  matter  as  it  appeai-ed  in  the  sixth  edition,  he 
[Winer]  constantly  improved  the  book  in  details,  by  additions  of  greater  or  less 
extent  in  more  than  three  hundred  and  forty  places,  by  erasures  and  rcconstnic- 
tions,  by  the  multiplication  of  parallel  passages  from  biblical  and  from  profane 
literature,  by  a  more  precise  definition  of  thoughts  and  expressions,'  etc.  Professor 
Liinemann  has  added  to  the  seventh  edition  not  only  these  improvements,  but  also 
improvements  of  his  own  ;  and  has  thus  made  the  seventh  edition  more  full,  as 
well  as  more  accurate,  tlum  either  of  the  preceding. 

"  The  first  edition  of  Winer's  Grammar  was  translated  into  English  by  Professors 
Stuart  and  llobinson  in  1825  ;  the  fourth  edition  by  Professors  Agnew  and  Ebl)eke 
in  1839  ;  the  sixth  edition,  translated  by  Professor  Masson,  was  published  at  Edin- 
burgh, and  his  translation  of  the  sixth  is  tlie  basis  of  Professor  Thayer's  transla- 
tion of  the  seventli  [Ltinemann's]  edition.  Professor  Thayer,  however,  has  intro- 
duced numerous  and  important  corrections  of  Masson's  translation,  and  has  made 
the  present  edition  of  the  Grammar  decidedly  superior  to  any  of  the  preceding 
translations.  lie  has  made  it  especially  convenient  for  the  uses  of  an  English 
student,  by  noting  on  the  outer  margin  of  the  pages  the  paging  of  the  sixth  and 
seventh  German  editions,  and  also  of  Piofessor  Masson's  translation.  Thus  tlie 
reader  of  a  commentary  which  refers  to  the  pages  of  either  of  those  volumes,  may 
easily  find  the  reference  l)y  consulting  the  margin  of  this  volume.  Great  cure  has 
also  been  bestowed  on  the  indexes  of  the  present  volume,  which  are  now  very 
accurate  and  complete.  One  of  the  indexes,  that  of  passages  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment explained  or  cited  occupies  sixty  pages,  and  notes  distinctively  not  only  the 
texts  which  are  merely  cited,  but  also  those  wliich  are  commented  upon.  For  this, 
much  credit  is  due  to  Professor  G.  W.  Warren,  of  the  Baptist  Theological  IScm- 
inary  in  Chicago.  The  three  indexes  fill  eiglity  five  pages,  and  largely  augment 
the  value  and  richness  of  the  volume.  The  typographical  execution  of  the  book 
also  deserves  pr.use ;  so  far  as  we  have  examined  it,  we  have  been  surprised  at  its 
correctness  in  places  where  the  ty])es  are  apt  to  err."  —  Bihliothcca  Sacra. 

"  The  work  of  the  American  editor  is  done  in  a  thorough  and  scholarly  man- 
ner." —  Conijn-f/fitwnal  Qnarterbj. 

"  While  nothing  has  been  done  by  either  the  American  or  German  editor  to  alter 
the  character  and  plan  of  the  wo/k  as  Winer  left  it  after  tlie  labor  of  a  life,  noth- 
ing has  been  left  undone  to  correct  and  complete  it,  and  provide  for  its  more  ex- 
tended usefulness. "  —  Princeton  litview. 

"  The  whole  appearance  of  the  work  as  it  now  stands  indicates  a  careful  and 
thorough  scholarship.  A  critical  comparison  of  several  pages  with  the  original 
confirms  the  impression  made  by  a  general  examination  of  tlie  book.  In  its  pres- 
ent form,  this  translation  may  now  be  recommended  as  worthy  of  a  place  in  the 
library  of  every  minister  who  desires  to  study  the  New  Testament  with  the  aid  of 
the  best  critical  heljjs." —  Tlieolor/icnl  Eclcclic. 

"  Great  pains  also  have  been  taken  to  secure  typographical  accuracy,  an  ex- 
tremely difficult  thing  in  a  work  of  this  kind.  We  rejoice  that  so  invaluable  a 
work  has  thus  been  made  as  nearly  perfect  as  we  can  hope  ever  to  have  it.  It  is  a 
work  tiiat  can  hanlly  fail  to  facilitate  and  increase  the  reverent  and  accurate  study 
s>i  the  Word  of  God." —  American  Prisbi/terian  Review. 

27 


Books  PuUished  by  W.  F.  Drapef. 

Murphy.     Critical  and  Exegetical  Comrnenfaries  of  Prof, 
James  G.  MarpJHj,  LL.U.,  T.C.D.,  viz.:  on 

Genesis.  Exodus.  Leviticus. 

"Dr.  Murpny  in  his  commentaries  has  a  definite  plan,  which  he  carries  out. 
The  text  is  explained,  translated  anew,  and  comments  are  added  on  the  difficult 
and  mooted  noints.  He  is  a  fair,  clear,  and  candid  interpreter.  His  ahn  is  to  recon- 
cile the  Scripi'ires  with  science  by  an  imj)artial  examination  of  the  text."  —  Anw- 
rii  an  Presbyterian  and  Theokyical  Review. 

Genesis.     With  a  Preface  by  J.  P.Thoiupson,  D.D.,  New  York,  ^vo 

pr    535.  $3.50 

"  The  most  valuable  contribution  that  has  for  a  long  time  been  maae  to  ilie 
many  aids  for  the  critical  study  of  the  Old  Testament  is  Mr.  Draper's  republication 
of  lir.  Murphy  on  Genesis,  in  one  octavo  volume.  Dr.  Murphy  is  one  of  the 
I'rofessors  of  the  Assembly's  College  at  Belfast,  and  adds  to  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  Hebrew,  and  of  the  science  of  interpretation,  great  common  sense,  genuine 
wit,  and  admirable  power  of  expression.  Hence  his  commentary  is  racy  and 
readable,  as  well  as  reliable.  No  volume  will  be  more  useful  to  those  who  have 
been  troubled  by  the  Colen.^o  criticisms;  aud  no  man  has  pricked  the  bubble  of 
that  inflated  bislioj)  with  a  more  effectual  and  relieving  wound  than  Dr.  oMurphy. 
It  is  a  good  deal  to  say  of  a  commentary,  but  we  say  it  in  all  sincerity,  that  this 
volume  furnishes  about  as  fascinatmg  work  for  one's  hours  for  reuding  as  any 
volume  of  the  day,  in  any  department  of  literature  ;  while  its  general  influence  will 
be  salutary  and  effective  for  the  truth." —  Cone/regationalist. 

"Dr.  Thompson,  in  the  preface,  commends  this  work  'as  a  timely  antidote  to 
much  of  the  negative  and  destructive  criticism  upon  the  Pentateuch.'  Dr.  Murphy 
is  an  Irish  Presbyterian,  wiio  has  pre]iarc-d  several  books  which  show  high  scholar- 
ship and  patient 'research  ;  and  this  book  proves  him  to  be  a  devout  and  believing 
Christian.  His  handling  of  Colenso's  dithculties  shows  his  Irish  wit,  as  well  as 
his  learning  and  logic.  The  translation  here  given  is  very  beautiful,  and  in  such 
explicit  language  as  to  be  a  rich  commentary  of  itself,  while  the  abundant  and 
rich  information  given  in  the  notes  charms  the  reader  on  with  more  than  the  zest 
of  fiction.  —  Boston  Recorder. 

"  A  Commentary  on  Genesis,  embodying  the  results  of  the  latest  investigations 
and  criticisms,  and  treating  the  record  fairly  and  in  a  Christian  spirit,  has  long 
been  needed.  We  think  the  want  is  here  excellently  well  supplied.  Dr.  Murphy 
is  exadeutly  at  home  in  '  Hebrew  criticism."  He  is  soundly  '  orthodox '  in  his  ow^ 
doctrinal  views.  He  rejects,  with  the  contempt  they  deserve,  the  absurd  glosses 
and  inventions  of  rationalist  theologians,  whether  German  or  English  ;  and  he  is 
not  afraid  to  stand  loyally  by  all  the  demands  of  the  original  record,  strictly  inter- 
preted. We  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  his  exposition  of  the  first  chapter  of  Gen- 
s-is satisfies  our  own  mind  better  than  any  other  we  have  ever  seen.  He  holda 
th.it  the  days  of  creation  were  literal  dnys ;  a  sufficient  interval  of  time,  as  he 
thinks,  being  implied  between  the  first  aud  second  verses  of  the  chapter  for  all 
those  iD'n-ense  effects  which  Geologists  claim  to  trace,  and  the  work  of  the  six 
days  bemg  simply  the  preparation  of  the  earth's  present  surface  for  its  present 
inhabitants. — Vhristian  Times  and  Witness. 

"  This  work  is  very  timely  in  its  appearance,  and  will  prove  a  good  antidote 
to  the  rationalistic  publications  and  infidel  theories  respecting  the  history  of 
mankind  as  given  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures."  — jVew  York  Observer. 

"  We  confess  to  a  pecriliar  satisfaction  in  this  commentary  for  this  thing:  that 
the  author  does  not  feel  called  on  to  go,  in  his  exegesis,  beyond  the  text  and  the 
light  of  the  times  when  it  was  written.  The  style  of  the  writing  is  peculiarly 
good,  being  simple,  clear,  and  quite  free  from  scholastic  w(\rds  and  hybrid  Eng- 
lish, .such  as  we  find  in  Bengel."  —  Boston  Review. 

"  In  the  critical  study  of  the  Old  Testament  this  monograph  will  be  found  an 
important  help."  —  Evangelical  Review. 

"  The  work  before  us  is  one  of  great  value,  and  meets  the  long-existmg  want 
oettei  than  any  work  on  Genesis  we  have  yet  seen."  —  Morning  iStar. 
P 


Books  Published  hy  W.  F.  Draper. 

MurpTiff.      Critical  and   E.reffctical  Commentaries  of  Prof. 
James  G.  Blurphi/,  LL.D.,  T.C.I>.,viz.:  on 

Exodus.    8vo.     pp.  385.  $3.00 

"  Thus  far  nothinj^  has  appeared  in  this  country  for  half  a  century  on  the  first 
two  books  of  the  Pentateuch  so  valuable  as  the  present  two  volumes."  |(^n  Gen- 
esis and  Exodus  j.  His  style  is  lucid,  animated,  and  often  eloquent.  His  pag-es 
afford  fiolden  suggestions  and  key-thoughts Some  of  the  laws  of  interpreta- 
tion are  stated  with  so  fresh  and  natural  a  clearness  and  force  that  they  will  jier 
manent)y  stand."  —  ALetlmdist  Qnnrterli/. 

"  I  feel  that  I  am  richer  for  having  it  on  my  shelf  of  Christian  armory.  I  wish 
RTcry  one  of  my  brethren  in  the  ministry  had  the  same  joy ;  and  few  need  be  ie- 
prived  of  it,  for  the  books  are  very  cheap." — Ilev.  II.  C.  Fish,  D.D. 

"Prof.  Mnrphy's  Commentary  on  Genesis  has  been  published  long  enough  to 
have  secured  the  highest  reputation  for  scholarship,  research,  and  sound  judgment. 
This  volume  on  Exodus  takes  its  place  in  the  sam^  rank,  and  will  increase  ratlier 
than  diminish  its  author's  reputation  among  scholars."  —  Natioudl  /Jujilist. 

"  Dr.  Mur])hy  has  done  a  noble  service  to  his  college  and  church  in  the  publica- 
tion of  this  work." —  Thp  Ora'dmt 

"  This  is  the  second  volume  of  the  ablest  Commentary  on  the  Pentateuch  that 
has  yet  fallen  into  our  hands."  —  The  WeelJij  Press. 

"•By  its  originality  and  critical  accuracy  it  must  command  the  high  regard  of 
the  scholar  and  theologian,  whilst  the  ease  and  grace  ot  its  style,  the  judiciousness 
with  which  it  selects  and  unfolds  its  many  sulyects  of  discussion,  will  be  sure  to 
fix  and  reward  the  attention  of  the  general  student."  —  The  fMlheran. 

"  This  volume  is  a  fit  successor  of  that  on  the  Book  of  Genesis,  by  the  same 
author.  The  two  ought  to  be  in  every  minister's  library,  and  they  will  be  found 
valuable  helps  to  Sabbath-school  teachers  and  otiiers." —  Vermont  Chronicle. 

Leviticus.    With  a  New  Translation.     8vo.    pp.318.  $2.50 

"  In  our  opinion,  his  idea  and  method  are  the  right  one,  and  the  whole  work 
shows  a  remarkably  clear  mastery  of  the  subject.  His  style,  too,  is  singularly 
lucid.  He  interprets  Hebrew  well,  and  writes  capital  English.  The  book  meets  a 
long  felt  want,  and  meets  it  well."  —  Tlie  Advance. 

"  No  attentive  reader  can  examine  it  without  being  at  once  largely  instructed  in 
the  ritual  of  the  Lcviiical  worship,  and  enlightened  and  edified  in  the  faith  of  the 
Gospel.  The  obscure  and  difficult  portions  of  the  text  are  elucidated  with  great 
skill  and  impressivi  ncss,  and  the  whole  work  furnishes  a  most  interesting  study." 
—  The  L'ltlieran  avd  Missionanj. 

"  The  Commentaries  of  Miirpliy  have  many  excellences.  They  are  clear,  dis- 
;riminating,  and  comprehensive.     His  power  consists  in  adhering  to  the  teachings 

)f  Scripture,  book  by  book The  book  of  Leviticus  is  a  dense  untraversod 

forest  to  most  persons.  Very  few,  even  of  theologians,  ever  read  it,  cxcejit  to  cull 
here  and  there  a  passage  to  point  a  moral  or  enforce  a  doctrine.  Yet  it  is  one  cf 
the  choicest  books  of  the  Old  Testament  to  the  believer  in  the  atonement  of  Christ 
and  the  exposition  of  that  atonement  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  Mr.  Murphy 
expimnds  it  from  the  New  Testament  point  of  view.  He  spiritualizes  the  ritual 
of  the  Jews  from  the  teachings  of  I'aul  and  the  other  apostles." — Bu/itist  Quurteriif. 

"  We  think  it  is  the  very  best  commentary  on  Leviticus  that  has  ever  been 
published."  —  Tlie  Presbyterian. 

"A  masterly  treatment,  such  as  is  given  in  this  book,  of  the  subjects  cf  propi- 
tiation and  purification  as  illustrated  by  the  Book  of  Leviticus,  cannot  but  have  a 
beneficial  efiect  in  restraining  the  tendency  to  eliminate  the  idea  of  expiation  from 
the  death  of  Christ." —  Church  and  /State.' 

"  Like  the  other  works  (Genesis  and  Exodus)  mentioned,  this  is  able,  learned, 
clear,  and  forcible  in  style,  and  strikingly  unfolds  the  true  character  of  the  Book 
of  Leviticus."  —  Tlie  Lutheran  Observer. 

"  Difficulties  are  met  face  to  face,  and  no  useless  parade  of  grammatical  lore 
cumbers  the  pages  of  this  truly  learned  and  evangelical  commentary." — Christian 
Intelliqi  ncer. 

"  \\\  know  of  no  work  on  Leviticus  comparable  with  it."  —  Pidpit  and  Pew. 

Q 


Books  Published  by  W.  F.  Draper. 

Lifjhffoot.  St.  Paifl's  Epistle  to  the  Galatlans.  A  Revised 
Text,  with  Intrcxluction,  Notes,  and  Dissertations.  By  J.  B.  Light- 
foot,  D.D.,  Hulsean  Professor  of  Divinity,  and  Fellow  of  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge.    8vo.    pp.  402.     Bevelled.  $3.00 

"  This  work  aims  to  be,  and  in  some  respects  is,  more  complete  than  any  other 
treatise  upon  this  E])istle  in  the  English  language.  Great  hibor  and  learning  are 
expended  upon  collateral  discussions.  Indeed,  the  commentary  on  the  text  forms 
the  smaller  part  of  the  volume,  invested  as  it  is  with  elaborate  dissertation;  and 
detached  notes,  before  and  after  and  between. 

"  The  commentary  is  learned  without  display.  It  bears  marks  throughout  of 
wide  and  scholarly  research  held  in  strict  subordination  to  the  purpose  of  expo- 
sition. All  theories  except  those  which  deserve  a  consideration  are  left  out  of  the 
account.  Perhaps  the  collateral  dissertations  might  have  been  similarly  com- 
pressed. It  is  independent.  Few  commentaries  bear  more  clearly  the  tokens  of 
freedom  trom  constraint.  The  author  apparently  does  not  swerve  from  his  course 
either  to  agree  wiih  or  difFer  from  any  other  writer.     He  decides  for  himself  upon 

the  text,  after  a  revision  by  Westcott  tor  his  use And  this  leads  us  to  say 

that  it  is  lara-clv  marked  by  a  manly  insight.  He  reaches  his  results  less  by  that 
process  of  excru:^!'  n  which  so  characterizes  Ellicott,  and  more  by  a  direct  appre- 
hension ,  rtnil  he  often  holds  them,  perhaps,  with  more  of  an  instinctive  certainty 

than  Alford It  is  spiritual  and  evangelical." —  Congregational  Review. 

"Professor  Liahtfoot's  Commentary  is  distinguished  liy  an  admirable  diction, 
and  by  sound  sense,  as  well  as  learning.  The  Analysis  of  tiie  Epistle,  on  pp. 
68-73  •  the  Dissertations,  especially  that  on  "  St.  Paul  and  the  Three,"  Peter, 
James,  and  John,  pp.  129-212  ;  the  Notes,  of  which  that  on  "  St.  Paul's  Infirmity 
in  the  Flesh"  (pp.  354-360)  is  a  fair  specimen,  are  masterly.  Mr.  Draper  has  con- 
ferred a  rare  favor  on  our  students  of  the  Bible  by  giving  them  as  good  a  reprint 
of  a  volume  so  rich  and  solid."  —  Bihiiolheca  Sacra. 

"  For  a  scholar's  use  Dr.  Lightfoot's  Commentary  is  invaluable.  He  and  Bishop 
Ellicott  worthily  supplement  each  other.  The  Revised  Text  is  one  of  the  best 
recent  contributions  to  a  complete  text  to  the  Greek  New  Testament,  and  the  criti- 
cisms on  the  text  are  concise  and  to  the  point,"  etc.  —  Am.  Pre.fhi/terian  Review. 

"  Taken  as  a  whole,  we  venture  to  say  that  this  is  the  most  comijlete  and  ex- 
haustive commcnrary  on  the  Eiiistle  to  the  Galatians  that  has  yet  appeared,  Ellicott's 
not  excepted."  —  Christian  Intellifie.nrer. 

"All  the  resources  of  a  thorough  classical  and  theological  scholarship  have  ])een 
employed  with  clear  discrimination  in  the  preparation  of  this  work,  so  as  to  make 
it  an  almost  exhaustive  commentary  upon  the  Epistles.  Indeed,  the  introductory 
essays,  the  critical  and  exegetical  notes,  and  the  discriminating  dissertations  ap- 
pended to  the  commentary,  seem  to  meet  every  demand  of  the  case.  At  this  time, 
especially,  such  a  commentary  upon  this  anti-ritualistic  Epistle  seems  peculiarly 
opportuiie."  —  Reformed  Church  AJonthlij. 

"  It  is  a  most  exhaustive  study  upon  this  one  short  epistle.  It  raises  and  di* 
ciisses  almost  every  question  which  the  text  can  suggest."  —  Congregationalist. 

"  Is  worthy  of  a  place  beside  the  best  exegetical  commentaries  of  other  scholars, 
—  Ellicott,  Hackett,  Alford,  etc."  —  National  Baptist. 

"Every  student  preacher  will  find  this  commentary  full  of  holy  nutriment,"  — ^ 
Zion's  Herald. 

"  Dr.  Lightfoot  is  one  of  the  ablest  of  that  company  of  able  scholars,  the 
Fellows  of  Trinity  College  in  Cambridge  in  England,  in  which  university  he  ia 
Hulsean  Piofessor  of  Divinify,  and  he  has  been  lately  appointed,  we  believe,  a 

Canon  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  English  scholar  has 

more  qualifications  than  he  for  the  task  which  he  has  undertaken." — Christ.  Register. 
"This  is  a  most  valuable  Commentary.  The  revised  text  is  up  to  the  very 
latest  and  best  critical  scholarship.  The  exegetical,  though  tolerjibly  extended, 
constitutes  the  smaller  part  of  the  volume.  It  is  especially  full  and  satisfactory  on 
most  of  the  leading  topics  connected  with  the  Epistle."  —  Lutheran  Qiiarterhj  Review. 
"  It  is  full  not  only  of  scholarship  and  ability,  but  also  of  exegetical  sagacity. 
In  respect  to  the  last  quality  it  stands  far  above  Ellicott's  commentary  on  the  same 
fipistle,  republished  in  this  country  by  the  same  publisher."  —  Churchman. 

O 


Books  Published  hy  W.  F.  Draper. 

Keetfy.  A  Collection  of  ilie  Proverbs  of  all  N'af  ions.  Compared, 
Explained,  and  Illustrated.  By  Walter  B.  Kelly.  12mo. 
pp.  232.  $1.25 

"  This  is  one  of  those  books,  hko  Roget's  Thesmirus,  Haydn's  Dictionary  of 
Dates,  and  Lippincott's  Pronouncing  Gazetteer,  which  contains  a  vast  amount 
oi' inl'orniau  .1.  in  a  very  small  space  —  books  that  a  writer  cannot  arlord  to  ba 
without,  for  they  contain  information  that  by  days  of  research  in  libraries  one 
would  hardly  be  able  to  obtain.  This  collection  contains  all  the  proverbs  which 
arc  familiar  in  all  nations.  They  are  classified  under  various  heads,  snch  as 
Womeij  Love,  JVlarriage,  Home,  iSelf-conccit,  Ingratitude,  and  so  on.  Ther'j  in 
al?o  a  full  index,  which  enables  one  at  once  to  find  any  particular  proverb.  Another 
excellent  feature  is  that,  when  a  proverb  is  taken  from  another  language,  not  only 
the  English,  but  the  original  is  giA-en.  The  book  is  replete  with  good  tilings  It 
BUj. plies  a  want  that  many  a  one  has  felt,  a  want  that  no  dictionary,  gazetteer  or 
book  of  quotations  now  supplies.'" —  ColUge  Conrant. 

"  The  editor  l;.as  arranged  and  classiiied  his  proverbs,  in  so  good  a  way,  and  has 
illustrated  them  by  so  many  anecdotes  and  liistorical  reminiscences,  that  he  has 
made  his  work  entertaining  as  well  as  instructive."  —  Springjield  Repaldican. 

"  The  character  and  purpose  of  this  uni(jue  and  handsome  volume  are  fully  set 
forth  in  its  title-page.  The  work  is  one  of  rare  interest  and  value  to  the  student 
who  wishes  to  obtain  a  thorough  knowledge  of  written  literature."  —  Christian 
Tnf.eUir/encer. 

"  The  arrangement  is  admirable,  and  it  is  a  style  of  reading  that  will  interest  all 
classes,  furnishing  a  condensed  store  of  wisdom  easily  studied  and  full  of  spark- 
ling jioints.  The  illustrated  paragraphs,  too,  are  pertinent  and  helpful." —  Cliris- 
tian  Secretary. 

"  It  is  not  possible,  perhaps,  to  collect  the  proverbial  wisdom  of  the  world  in  any 

more  attractive  form  than   this  of  Mr.  Kelly's As  a  book  for  the  library,  an 

armory  where  a  writer  or  a  speaker  may  be  armed  and  equipped  in  a  single  line  ; 
as  a  book  for  the  centre-table,  something  that  yon  can  read  a  page  or  Iwcuiy  pages 
of.  have  your  reading  cut  short  anywhere  and  still  be  complete  and  intensely  inter- 
esting besides,  —  as  a  book  tor  either  of  these  purposes,  the  "Proverbs  of  all  iS'a- 
tions  "  will  be  found  very  arc  ptable.  Certain  it  is,  at  least,  that"  you  may  go 
farther  and  fare  worse.'' —  Christ  tun  Freeman. 

"  The  author  group;-  ilic  jn.. verbs  together  in  families,  illustrates  and  explains 
them,  gives  their  equivalents  as  found  in  other  nations,  etc.,  and  makes  the  most 
popular  book  of  the  kind  that  is  to  be  ioui:d." —  T/ie  Advance. 

"A  source  of  lively  interest  is  opened  fur  the  render,  who  is  thus  enabled  to 
observe  the  manifold  diversities  of  form  which  the  same  thought  assumes,  as  ex- 
pressed in  different  times,  and  by  many  distinct  races  of  men  ;  to  trace  the  u  jity 
in  variety  which  pervades  the  oldest  and  most  universal  monuments  jf  opinion  and 
sentiment  among  mankind."  —  Evtuincj  Truvelicr. 

Kennedif.  Messianic  I*ropheci/  and  Ihc  Life  of  Christ.  U^ 
Ivev.  W.  S.  Kennedy.     12mo.     pp.  484.  $1.2;j 

"  The  plan  of  the  author  is  to  collect  all  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament 
referring  to  the  Messiah,  with  appropriate  comments  and  reflections,  and  then  to 
pursue  the  subject  through  the  New  Testament  in  the  lii'e  of  Christ  as  he  itjipeared 
among  men.  The  reader  will  find  the  results  of  Hcnustenbcrg  and  Neander  here 
gathered  up,  and  presented  in  a  readable  shape."  —  The  Presbyterian. 

"  This  is  a  work  of  great  comprehensiveness.  Here,  in  the  compass  of  less  than 
five  hundred  duodecimo  pases,  we  have  the  Christology  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  Scriptures,  something  like  a  combination  of  the  Clristology  of  Ilengs  ten- 
berg  and  Neander's  Life  of  Ciirist.  Of  course  the  fulness  of  these  great  works  is 
not  imitated  ;  but  the  reader  will  find  the  results  of  these  and  similar  investigaiiona 
carefully  garhered  up,  and  presented  in  a  clear,  readable  shape.  The  Life  of  Christ 
is  !)ased  upon  Robinson's  Harmony  of  the  Gospels."  —  American  Presfn/lirian. 

"  This  work  exhibits  the  prophetic  clement  in  the  Messianic  argument  in  an 
analytical  shajie,  and  with  peculiar  force." —  Kpi^tco/xil  Jierorcf'T. 

"  The  general  idea  ol'  the  book  is  a  very  happy  one,  and  it  has,  on  the  whole 
been  well  wrought  out."  —  The  Lutheran. 


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